Three Magic words
by IndianKnight
Summary: Ash was always one of those people, whose heart only beats for adventure, who chase their dream. And God! He chased enough to get the golden opportunity to beat Elite four. But even with the GOLDEN oppurnunity he was still feeling something hollow. Maybe he is just missing everyone. It's May's wedding. A perfect chance to fill the hollow space.Or not? Pokeshipping. Contestshipping.
1. The invitation

**Hellow everyone! How's ya doin' ? What about me? I am superb! Because this is going to be my very first multi chaptered fic! VOOT VOOT! Isn't that great? So this is going to be a future fic, I mean ages of all the characters is going to be more than canon. And, as I informed you guys in my profile, this story is inspired by one of my favourite Bollywood films. YAYY! The story mostly revolves aroud ash and his dreams, but there is going to be Drama, humor and Romance too. Shippings are secret for the story. You'll find out in further chapters though. So, On to the story. Enjoy. And don't forget to review!**

 **DISCLAIMER- I am just forcing the the characters to follow _my_ scrip. Simple. Don't Own Nothing.**

 **Ages:-**

 **Ash- 23**

 **Misty-23**

 **May-21**

 **Drew-22**

 **Dawn-20**

 **Serena-22**

 **Delia-42**

* * *

"Oh my God! I really don't know what to do!" The beautiful brunette whined placing her hands on her head.

"Shush! May! Nothing's gonna happen, it's just color of tissue papers! Does it really matters if it's not Green?" The red haired woman asked, who was sitting right in front of her, on a cozy chair, legs folded, looking at the poke gear in her hands.

"Of course! it has to be Green! It's Drew's favorite color, and how can the color of tissue papers can be ORANGE, if the whole wedding is going to be green and white theme!" She replied with a pout. Misty, who was still busy with her Poke gear, finally looked at her friend, and rolled her eyes, May has always been a confident and positive woman, but she was acting really clingy right now, it was her wedding after all, who wouldn't be nervous? She was too much worked up about her destination wedding in a beautiful hotel of Porta Vista, under the guidance of a 'professional' wedding planner

"So… where is that ' _professional_ ' wedding planner of yours?" the gym leader asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhh… wait I'll check on her….Dawn! Come out! It's almost an hour, and you are still in the bathroom! Are you sleeping inside?!" May yelled from her place, Dawn, as she said was the 'professional' wedding planner.

"COMING!" Was all they got from the other side of the door of her room.

"See! She's coming." Misty raised her brow hearing this, while May continued, "C'mon, she's really excited for the wedding, letting her believe that she's a professional is the least we could do. And what are you doing in your pokegear?"

"You see, I was sending E-mails to everyone who is invited. Duh."

"Have you sent anything to Ash?"

Needless to say, this question added a numb expression to Misty's features. She zoned out for a bit, causing May to snicker.

"How did Ash suddenly invaded our conversation?" She asked sounding normal. While her heart was thumping like a drill machine, just, drill machines don't thump.

"Just a thought, that Ash never reads long formal E-mails. So, we can send him a video! Great idea, right?" she squealed at her brilliant idea.

"yeah. Of course."

* * *

"Whatcha looking at, Ash?" The black haired boy, actually MAN, looked at the person who interrupted his train of thoughts.

"Time pass us by," He replied dramatically with a smile.

"Wow. Time passing us by. Thoughtful." The blonde repeated with a smirk, that how her childhood friend was acting philosophical.

"There's something about acting philosophical, right? I mean to pretend that you're thinking something deep or warm? Got my point?" he asked, getting back to his usual self.

She just nodded with a giggle. "Don't know why, but you're making me miss my mom and home today," she said gazing the stars.

"So you really wanna go back?" He said with a teasing smirk.

"Sometimes. Sometimes I miss mom. And home. But then... I forget," she said dreamily.

"Me too." Ash said. Smiling. But somewhere in his smile pain was hidden. And somewhere in his happy eyes regrets were concealed. "Hey, Serena."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For.. coming with me. I really like to have some human company too."

"Oh, Anytime Ash." She replied. When Ash was busy in gazing the stars she managed to glance at his eyes. She liked watching them. Everytime she thought she was over him, those eyes misleads her decision. "And you know what? I am here for a special reason too! It was a surprise for you, but now it's time for the revelation!" she chimed. Her eyes were sparkling.

After the Kalos league; she thought that she would never meet him, she had a huge crush on him which was pretty obvious but she realised that sometimes, the people you love the most don't always love you back. Somethings are not just meant to be. But it's okay. Life moves on, and you find someone worth your love.

Because, she admits it or not, she is a precious girl, who deserves to be loved. So she got over him. But some feelings don't just disappear so does hers. And she WAS traveling with him right now, after a long time. For a special reason.

"Secret?"

"Yeah! You know what? 'Kanto federation of tournaments and leagues' is organising their very first showcase! And I am invited as a special guest!"

"Really?!"

"Yaa, and! 'Kalos association of tournaments' offered them another thing"

"And what's that?"

"You know, the current Kalos' pokemon master, is resigning from his title, for... Some internal reasons. So, because the Kalos champion was not able to beat Elite four, the Kalos League committee has taken a decision, that...if the winner of Kalos league was unable to gain the title, then... "

"Then, what?"

"Then, they decided for wild card entries. And guess what?"

"What?"

"They decided to arrange a re-battle between the winner, first runner up and second runner up! And who's the first runner up? Its you!"

"Whoa! ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

"YEAH!"

"Oh My God! Serena I Can't believe it!" He squealed at the blonde, hugging her excitedly. She turned to a deep shade of red, but glad that her former (maybe current) crush didn't saw her. "How do YOU know that" He asked breaking the hug, looking directly in her eyes.

"Perks of being the favorite Kalos Queen of the committee I guess," she winked.

"Yeah!" He laughed.

"Actually they are aiming two targets at a time."

"What?"

She giggled. "Since it's the first time a Showcase is executing in this region, they are not sure whether the public will like it or not. Because, Showcases are more of Kalos' thing. So they are trying to arrange the showcase after the Match of you and the second runner up, or vice versa."

"How will it help?"

"Well, you are appearing for the title of Kalos' Pokémon Master, of course people are gonna watch you, at the same time, they will use the same public to show the first Showcase."

"That's tricky." He said scratching his forehead. "But why will they arrange the re-battle for Kalos' title in Kanto? _Oh_! Now I get it for attracting the public for _showcase_! _Okay_!" He said. It seemed that he was calculating a numerical from quantum physics.

"You will have two battles, the one with the second runner up, if you win you'll battle the Champion, and if you win again, you'll battle Elite four."

"And if I lose? From Elite four? Then who'll be the Pokémon Master?"

"Well I don't have _that_ much details."

"How did you got _these_ then?"

She winked. "One of the senior officers is my close friend."

"Wow! Miss sneaky!"

"Wow! So much _gratitude_!"

He smiled before replying, "Thanks a lot, Serena."

"It's my pleasure. After all, we're friends, right?"

"One of the best!"

They shared a whole hearted giggle. Ash was really happy. After becoming the Kanto champion, he decided to travel more, for better experience to challenge Kanto Elite Four. But, this was even better! He can challenge the Kalos Elite four now!

"So, After the showcase, the battles will begin between two of you and whoever wins, is going to grab that golden opportunity!"

"When is this going to be officially announced?"

"Well, they should've contacted you by now, by any means. But most of the time they use E-mails. Ash…have you checked your E-mail?"

"Hehehe…. N-no?"

"You are so irresponsible! You should check it as soon as possible, _Okay_?"

"Done!"

* * *

The Raven haired man collapsed on the soft bed of his room in the ship. He threw his limbs comfortably on the bed, as he looked at the ceiling above; he stayed there in the same position, until he remembered something. He rushed his hands in his pocket of his jacket, and took out his pokegear. He sat on the bed, folding his legs, and turned the device on.

"Pikapi?"

"Hey, buddy! Did I wake you?" He asked his all time companion, who just shook his head, gesturing a 'no' in response, "Sorry, pal! You can go back to sleep, you need rest, you must be tired after that battle we had today."

"Kaa!" and he got back to his place, right beside ash's pillow, and got lost in his sleep again. Ash returned his attention to the screen of his Pokegear, and opened the mail he got from the official website. He read it carefully, all boring, professional stuff was written with a conclusion that, the battle is organised on 2nd of January. That was just two weeks ahead.

"Man! If I win this battle, I can challenge Elite Four of Kalos! But….this was not my hard work. I just got lucky. But a battle is battle. But maybe I don't deserve this. But this is my dream job. But it's a gift from someone. Aaarrgghhh! What do I do?" He groaned at himself. But not too loud, for the sake of Pikachu's sleep, "I should go there! Maybe it's a gift, but I will win it by my own talent. Elite four, I am coming!"

 _Ping_!

His pokegear gave a notification, indicating an incoming message. As he checked the name of the person, he found- "May? She sent me a video message, what it can be?" he clicked on it and the video started. May was standing right on the screen, in a skin tight maroon, off shoulder dress, with a perfect French knot on hair. She started speaking-

 _'Hey Ash how are you?! I know that you usually don't check your inbox of E-mail, so I am sending you this video. How am I looking? Long hair, French manicure, ladies jewellery, don't you laugh okay!_

 _So, I sent you this video, in super expensive clothes, so that, you at least miss me a little and come to my WEDDING! yeah! I AM GETTING MARRIED! Yeah! May Maple getting married! Can't believe right?! Me neither! And with all the rituals everrr! It's a destination wedding at Porta Vista, in a very Fancy Hotel, With a dance function, a bachelor party, And then the wedding ceremony!...I Know you are always busy, you have a dream to accomplish, you are working hard, you don't stick to just one place, you are rally cool, yada yada yada. But please...come this time, I really missed you, we all did, and I want one of my bestest friend to attend this big, actually biggest day of mine. At least for me. I am dying here man. How fast we all grew right?...Anyways, I really hope you will come. Love you.'_ she gave a flying kiss before video ended.

-The video ended, and ash was staring dumbly at the screen. Below the video, there was a text message with some information of wedding.

 _May and Drew_

 _Address- Romanesque Resort, Porta Vista_

 _Date- 26th – 29 December_

 _Love, May_

29th December? Just before his tournament. Shit! How will he go!?

But, she was getting married. One of his bestest and closest friend, May Maple was getting married. He was really happy for her, and really wanted to go there, but he had his biggest dream waiting for him just a couple of days after the wedding. _But please come, atleast for me_. May's words echoed his ears. It's been really long time he met everyone. He was even not able to contact them, while traveling. So this was the opportunity to meet everyone once again and make them remember that he was still alive. But what about the tournament?... He can still go there if he will depart from wedding just on the wedding night! Yeah! That was the plan. A perfect plan. But why this don't seem so much perfect. He was really excited for the tournament and to meet everyone at the wedding, but…. He was still feeling some hollow space inside him, which really needed to be filled. But why? He was just few steps closer to his dream but why he's not feeling as excited as ever? Weird.

* * *

He was so comfortable in that cozy bed. These beds of expensive rooms are just so comfortable, that one can sleep like a snorlax on it. And ash, on the other hand can sleep like a snorlax even on the hard ground of spooky forest. His eyes got disturbed, as the light touched them, he opened them slowly, to see what was the source of the light. But what he found, really shocked him.

 _'M-mom?'_

 _'You're up, Honey?'_

 _'wh-what are you doing here mom?'_

 _'Just checking on you. You know, if you didn't came that time, even when it was such a harsh situation, then you must be doing something really important, right?'_

 _'I am so sorry mom. I would've came, but I got the news so late! What could I do?! I am so sorry! Wait, where are you going? MOM!WAIT! PLEASE MOM!'_

"MOM!" his eyes snapped open and he sat up on his bed. Breathing as heavy as possible.

"PIKAPI?!"

"S-sorry Pikachu. I screamed really loud, right? Sorry," his eyes lowered in guilt. "I have to go. I will go to the wedding. Before I lose everyone. I need them. No regrets."

He stood up from his bed, and got dressed up. After he was all made up, he left room with pikachu, on his obvious place, his shoulders.

It was really hard for him to lift the corner of his lips on upward direction, but he did his best to smile.

"Good morning, Ash!" came a chirping voice from his back. He knew who it was, so he turned and replied cheerfully.

"Morning, Serena!"

"Did, you sleep well? Or you were thinking about the tournament all night?" she asked teasingly

"I s-slept really w-well…" he was feeling nervous to tell her. More like he was nervous to accept the fact to himself that he'll be dancing at a wedding where he should be practicing.

"Hey? What happened?"

"..."

* * *

 **Cliffhangerr! Okay so how was it? And for those who have a doubt, that, whether Delia is dead or alive, then, wait for the next chapter. If you guys like it, then please review, and let me know that, whether to continue with this or not. Well i will continue on this but i want your opinions too! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Surprise

**A/N: Hey everyone. I am here with the brand new chapter! First of all, I would like to give lot's of Thanks to those who reviewed for the previous chapter, those reviews really means a lot! specially for a newbee like me.**

 **Disclaimer** **\- I don't own Pokemon or any song used in the fic.**

 **Edit:- I shifted wedding month to December. Some people might have noticed. Why? You'll see at the end.**

* * *

On looking from a distance, the building almost looked like a palace. It was right on the edge of the beach giving an ideal look of some mushy Hollywood movie. On entering the 'palace' anyone could tell that the whole place was booked for some kind of occasion, a really expensive one, the one which can be anyone's dream. Beautiful flowers of mint green and white color were used to decorate the white Greek style building, and some ancient decorative all over the place, the place had fountains, shallow pools, and old style pillars. It was like a dream world, an actual one. Guests were arriving with marvelous expressions on face, obviously impressed by the decoration. Preparations were done from lighting to flowers well…except the color of tissue papers, everything was perfect, everything was ready, she was ready.

For the cocktail party, the young population of the guests were gathered at the hall, most of them were May and Drew's close friends or cousins. This was going to be the last time when May and Drew could see each other until wedding.

Right now, Dawn was delivering 'few lines' of emotions on the stage which was barely fifteen to twenty centimeters above from ground. And May was already feeling some strange feeling. But shifted her attention back to stage, after all she was the bride. She was wearing a beautiful cream colored knee length dress. Her dress had beautiful sparkles on the torso portion and puffed below the waist. With creamy-peach colored stilettos.

"…so, that was the moment, when May and I became Best friends! Drew, you are really lucky to have May. I am really happy for you guys." Dawn finished her sentence sentimentally. Audience gave an 'Aww' and a big round of applause in response. "And now, to tell you about May, May's another best friend Misty! Over to you Misty!" Cheering this the coordinator left the stage, smiling and took her seat on her table. May gave her the warmest smile.

The crowd cheered, hearing the name. The young lady got up from her seat as she heard her name. She was wearing a short knee length up-down patterned dress, with a pair of black, T-strapped heels matching her sparkly black dress. She wore her hair down, unlike her usual backside high-ponytail, which was upgraded from her long time typical side ponytail. She walked towards the stage, and stood on the centre of it, took a deep breath and then started with her speech.

"So...I met May through a common friend of ours, Ash. Unfortunately he is not with us right now." The audience gave an ' _Ooh_ ' in the sympathetic voice.

"No, no! He is not _dead_! He is just not present here!" Misty informed. A sudden giggle in the public speeded. "So, I met her at my short visit to Hoenn, after that, I never thought that we are going to be in touch. But one day, actually one night, midnight, my pokegear rang, 'Please let me in' came a voice, it was May. She was travelling through Kanto, when Contests were first introduced here, so I opened the door, and there she was. May. She played Rock music, I put on earplugs and went to sleep. That's when I realized that we were friends." She paused for a second, then continued, "I've seen it all, mad May, crazy May, stubborn May, Passionate May, her… leather jacket phase," Audience gave a big round of chuckle. "Her 'I am a painter' phase."

"Hey! I _am_ an Artist!" May protested jokingly, and public chuckled.

"Her hair color phase, Pink, purple, yellow, and GREEN! God! She loved green, now I know why!" She smiled and continued, "So… one day, she called me and said, 'It's my first date' I said 'WHAT?! With whom?' …That coordinator guy who gave me roses she said."

Drew smiled and looked at May from the corner of his eyes and she blushed sheepishly in response. "Barely a month, I got another call from her 'he proposed me!' she almost damaged my ear while informing me. I was a little shocked too, so I asked, who? 'the same coordinator, ya' was her reply. That's what May is. But as wild and insane May can be, she is a beautiful, trustworthy and amazing friend! Love you may, and I'm gonna miss you." The audience cooed and broke into a really loud applause appreciating her.

Misty was just exiting the stage, to get her seat, but all of the sudden everything turned black and dark. Someone switched the lights off, a sudden confused mumbling spreaded among the public, wondering whether it is a part of the show.

Suddenly a voice came from nowhere-

"They say that, there is no right time to get married." Misty stopped walking and turned around as if she assumed the voice was coming from the backstage. "And you're in trouble from the moment it happens. May, my champ, my wild child, I left you alone for a few years and look at the mess you've made!" the voice roared on the speakers.

The voice continued as the public scanned everywhere in search of the source of the voice, "Madness is an illness, an illness that old age makes you forget… but screw that. We won't be old for a while," May's eyebrows furrowed as the voice was quite familiar. While Misty smiled in confusion, because as strangely this was happening, she still likes what the voice said. "So let's be mad tonight!" The voice cheered as the DJ followed it and played a classical Western music to sound cool, as if the voice had asked to.

And the light spotted on the centre of the stage, from where a mysterious figure appeared, and walked towards public, as May saw that person's face she just jumped from her seat and ran towards the person screaming.

"Ash!" she squealed, jumped on him and hugged him tightly.

The audience cheered wildly watching the bride's one of the best friend. And suddenly the Dj started the best party track available, and everyone jumped from their seats and came to the floor, and started to dance happily on the 'Welcome Party'. The party got interesting by this.

Every friend jumped on Ash, Dawn giving him a high-five, "Oh cutie! You're _here_!"

Brock with a strong revengeful but loving pat, "I knew you can't live without me!"

Max with a low-five, "Food is disgusting! My food partner."

And Tracey with one shouldered men's hug. "So nice to see you man!"

But someone at the corner just stood dumbly; the red head was not able to believe her eyes. _Whoa, he is changed!_ She thought, but she shook her head, getting rid of the thought and tried to act normal. _He made it_. She stepped towards the group.

Ash was talking to Brock, but as he saw the redhead from a distance. He suddenly stopped listening. "And after that we all… hey! Are you even listening?" Brock protested with a raised eyebrow and looked at the direction of his friend's gaze. It took her less than five seconds to reach to them.

"HEY ASH!" she greeted him warmly, stretching her hand for a handshake or a five (?)

"MISTY!" Ash trilled in excitement, held her hand and pulled her for a tight hug. He embraced his strong arms around her torso, her hair tickling his face. She turned FREAKING COLOR OF SCARLET! And returned the hug, the hug got tighter, and she placed her chin on his broad shoulders. He smelt really good. Ash loosed the hug a little, shifted his hands around and tighten the hug again.

she felt her heart beat even faster, as his hand wandered through her hair and other hand tightened on her waist.

"Urhm! Urhm!" Brock cleared his throat, "You guys need a room?" he asked teasingly. They both broke the hug instantly, blushing wildly.

"Shut up." Misty punched him lightly as she felt warmth across her face.

"Hey Mist! Uh…" Ash couldn't decide what to say, sensing the situation was getting awkward.

"Yeah...A..ash… so…" she was struggling with words when she felt her phone vibrating. "Excuse me guys." She said and left the place. While pretending to talk on the phone. Even though it was a call from the service centre, to ask her if she wants a new exciting package with unlimited internet.

"Don't say a word!" was reaction of Ash, when Brock gave him a crooked smile.

"Now, this is gonna be fun" Brock smirked to himself.

* * *

It had been more than an hour since Ash joined the party, and after all the traveling his eyes were tired. He was sitting at a distance from the dance floor, looking at everyone, with a smile. _I am here, with everyone. And this feels a lot better than before, but….still, what is this hollow feeling for?_ He was so lost in his thoughts that, he didn't noticed that someone took a seat beside him.

"Long time, no see, Ashy-boy?" he looked at the voice.

"G-Gary? Hey Gary!" He greeted. Confused that Gary was actually talking to him or not. He tried to give his best smile.

"So, how are you doing?" He asked carelessly.

"Great! And you?" He tried to control the situation.

"Yeah, good. As always!" He said sarcastically, "you should be happy to meet us right?"

"Great, I mean it's really nice to see, everyone" Ash said nervously.

"You _must_ be happy." he had a pinch of sarcasm in his words. This left unnoticed by Ash.

"Yeah! It's nice to see, that no one has changed, I mean you are still my childhood buddy-"

Gary interrupted him, "Really, you think so?"

"Y...Yeah…"

"C'mon, Ketchum, we both know that except our faces, everything has changed." he said harshly.

"Nothing change between friends."

"Correct. But you and I, are not friends anymore. Maybe you don't have time for the shit right? Now, excuse me please. _Sir_." he left with that hurtful statement, didn't even bothered to hear Ash's response. And Ash….froze. Dumbly. Hurt.

* * *

 _I know whatever happened last time was wrong. Really wrong. And it was entirely my fault. I am guilty. But how will I live like this. Gary hates me, but I need to settle everything. I need to fix everything._

After the party (When everyone departed in their rooms) Ash was walking on the terrace, which had a shallow pool which was covering its perimeter; he has tucked his hands in the pocket of the pants he was wearing, and with the blazer hooked on his shoulder. As he walked some more, he saw someone sitting on the edge of the terrace, with their feet dipped in the shallow pool. It was Misty. When she saw him walking towards her direction, she signaled him to join her. He smiled at his long time friend and walked towards her. Completely forgetting the awkward moment previously. It was December, but as they were in a coastal area it still had a warm weather. Not hot but not the coldest. Just a little cold. Bearable.

When he reached there, he removed his shoes and socks and kept them with Misty's foot wear, then sat beside her, dipping his own feet in the pool, but suddenly yanked out, "Woo! It's _cold_!" he complained.

"It's just water, Ash." She giggled. "Give some time, everything will be alright." he followed her commands an dipped his feet again. a comfortable silence took place between them. Then Ash chose to break it.

"So…. You got married or something, too?" He asked looking at her face.

"What! No!" she replied with a light blush.

"And kids?" he asked jokingly.

"Yeah, _Three_!" she replied sarcastically.

"Cheap woman!" he joked back. And the two friends broke into laughter.

"You got a girl, or still as as dense as always?" She teased.

"Who said I don't have a girl?"

"So you d..do have a gir...girl!?" She gulped.

"More than one," he replied simply, stretching the pont.

"MORE THAN ONE!" She almost screamed.

"Yeah, I mean I have you, mom, may, dawn, leaf, aunt hil-"

"You pervert!" She cut him from mid of his sentence.

"You never asked for my girlfriend," He teased. He always tease her, and God! did he liked it? He loved it. It was the most common form of their communication, and he loved communicating her.

"Jerk." she rolled her eyes while giving him a soft punch on arm. And they both broke into another round of giggles.

"I missed this." She said. Her eyes were shining. Still giggling.

"Yeah, me too." ash said looking in her eyes.

"Hey Ash…" misty said trying to control her laughter and blush. "You haven't changed a bit, are you?"

"You think so?" He asked smiling.

"Except for one thing..." She said pointing out.

"And what's that?" He asked looking at his feet dipped in water.

"Old Ash, along with teaing used to smile a lot, you know you had such a dangerous smile?" She giggled again.

"You think so?" He asked teasingly.

"In your dreams," she narrowed her eyes, "but all those girls who chased you did. By the way, I said you had it. Feel the difference?" She stuck her tongue out. He rolled his eyes. And ignored her last sentence.

"God! I was so dumb!" He said with a flashback in front of his eyes. This time gazing the stars. Giggling.

"Yeah, and so were all those girls who chased you. Thankfully I was not dumb enough to do so," she replied with a proud grin. Even though, deep down she knew that she was also one of those girls who loved his smile. But didn't want to provoke his ego.

"Were you a girl that time?" Ash joked. And misty chuckled in response. "Are you, now?" He asked, smirking.

"A little," there was silence between them for hardly three seconds, then they broke into laugh. "How's the water now?" She asked him, suppressing her laugh.

"Perfectly fine."

"Told you. Give it some time. Everything's gonna be fine," she said, yanking her legs outta pool and whispered, "Good night," and she walked to stairs.

"Good night." Ash replied watching her go. Smiling.

After that he also left the place to give his body some rest. He walked down the stairs, but sadly, he didn't knew where his luggage or room was. So he decided to walk across the corridor until he finds a clue about his room. Tiredness leads a man to do various stupid things.

He was walking through the corridor, searching for his room. He felt someone walking towards him, he was about to turn but someone hugged him, from the back.

"Hey Ash!"

"Hey May!" She broke the hug as he turned to her direction.

"Your entry was so awesome and dramatic too! I loved it!" She squealed.

"A dramatic entry for a dramatic friend!" He snickered.

"No seriously! I almost thought that you won't come," she said with a warm smile.

"I _had_ to, how could I miss you funeral?" he joked. The brunette punched him on his arm and both chuckled.

"You're teasing me? What do you think, I am blind or what?" She said with a smirk.

"Why?"

"Don't play dumb. I saw you," she sang.

"You saw what?" He gulped.

"Ash and misty sitting on the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," she sang evilly, resulting a deep blush on the Kanto champion's face. Even as a bride she still had a kid deep within.

"Hey, hey, hey! It's not what you think!"

"I'm not a fool. Just tell me when is the wedding," She said dramatically.

"Shut up!, wh..where's my r..room?" He tried to change the topic, and she was dumb enough to make him do that.

"You're standing right in front of it." she pointed her finger on the door right in front of them.

"Ohkay, then! Good night." He opened the door quickly before turning to may.

"But Ash, you have to share-" he had already slammed the door. "That boy is such a mess" she murmured.

* * *

 **Yeah, he made it here. So did ya liked it? Please review ;P**


	3. Realizations

_**Three Magic Words**_

 **Author:- IndianKnight**

 **Hey guys. Yeah its a brand new chapter of my very first fic everrrr! (Shut up IndianKnight, you're telling this for the third time that this is your first multi chapter fic, just shut up) here's huge thanks to all who reviewed and followed and favourite my story that meant a lot! T~T**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon!**

 **Edit:- I did some changes, cause the previous one felt a little unfinished ;P**

* * *

The black haired trainer slammed the door in hurry as soon as he entered his room. After entering the room he scanned the room with his chocolate brown eyes. It was a suit with all the decorations in white theme. A Greek style double bed with soft mattress and pillows, the walls were off white with pillars on the corners and plantation for the green effect. The room had a carpet in the color of lightest shade of green which almost looked like white. He didn't noticed the extra luggage kept right behind his luggage, and collapsed in the bed which bounced a couple of times, he closed his eyes with a missing feeling of a certain yellow Pokémon, who was in Pokemon centre right now. _Now that's what I needed_ he thought while relaxing. But it didn't last long and the bathroom door opened smoothly, as someone stepped out of it.

"Hey! How dare you to enter my room Ketchum!" The man spoke aggressively, annoyed by the presence of Ash, and ash in return jumped from his place, and turned to the direction of the voice.

"Gary! It's _my_ room. And why are ya _shouting!?"_ Ash stood up from the bed-finally- and glared the pokemon researcher.

"Oh yeah! it's your room...and I am a monster!" he shouted sarcastically.

"That you _are"_ Ash laughed lightly.

"Not funny Ketchum!" He folded his hands. And gave the darkest galre possible.

"So... looks like we have to share the room...eh?"

"Unfortunately! YES!" He shouted again.

"Keep it _down_ chuck!" He called him with his childhood nick name.

"Don't call me that! _RED_!"

"You don't call me _that_!"

" _Red_!"

" _Chuck"_

"Why I am even talking to you. Jerk!"

"Why are you acting so rude, man?"

"I am rude?! Like you are the most polite and responsible one eh? that's why you didn't came, right?!"

"I came for your kind information. I was late but I _came_!"

"So? Yeah...you came, such an honour to us. I owe you a big one, Ketchum!" He howled with fired eyes.

"I am already in a swamp of guilt. For God's sake don't make me feel like that way more. Okay! " He felt a lump in his throat, it was difficult for him to believe this change in behaviour of his childhood buddy. Gary hated him now. He sighed. Feeling helpless. Maybe some sleep can help.

* * *

"MAY! Wake UP!" the blunette tried her best to wake her friend, but it seemed impossible as she was sleeping like a snorlax, "man! She is no better than Ash!" dawn whined.

"Are you done, now?" the gym leader asked the 'professional' wedding planner.

"She is impossible!" Dawn complained.

"Now, lemme do this" the red head stood up from the couch she was sitting on, then folded the sleeves of her mint green colored shirt, held May by her arm and started to shake her vigorously. But the brunette didn't bother to move an eyelid. Misty stopped and turned to dawn, "Close your eyes, or don't scream"

"M..misty what are you gonna d..do?" she asked nervously.

"Just wait and watch," as she said this, she took out a pokéball from her bagpak, and called the respective Pokémon, "Staryu! I chose you!", the red light beamed an the star shaped Pokémon appeared, and looked (if that's possible) to his trainer to give him commands, "Staryu, water gun on May, but be careful", it nodded and turned to may's direction, and then...

SPLASH

"Whaaaaa! Flood! I am dead! Dead! Dead! Run- wait!... Misty!... Dawn! Its not flood isn't it?"the to-be-bride asked her friends, who were amused by her reaction to the watergun.

"Drew's gonna regret it", Dawn commented, and they burst into laughter, well...except May. She was rubbing her eyes lazily.

"I hate you guys" she complained and picked her pokégear from the side table. "Oh my God! Its eight thirty five! Why didn't you guys woke me?! I am late for my own present ceremony!" She screamed and jumped from her place to grab towel and rushed to the bathroom like a Ponyta.

* * *

"Ash? Is that you?" called the redhead who saw a figure behind the pillar. Misty was holding a basket of roses, which was required for the 'present ceremony'. It was May's family tradition in which, Bride's family and friends gives her roses as goodluck, and gives her presents for her future life.

"Hey Mist!" He greeted.

"As per I know, present ceremony is in the lake side, may I know why were you sneaking around?" she stared at him, suspiciously.

"I was going to explore the nearby places and all...wanna come?..." he replied like its no big deal.

"Come on! You're here to attend May's wedding not for _exploring_!" she scolded him like usual.

"Come on mist! There'll be so many fat-despo aunties. They're gonna rape me!" he complained childishly. He always did, and the most interesting fact was that he usually did infront of Misty or Brock. In front of others he was the smarter one, he continued, "and, she won't even know that I wasn't there."

"Maybe," She said and took a pause, then continued, "But think, if that's even possible for you, that May will be so happy if you'll attend it,'' here it goes. Her most powerful weapon. Emotional blackmail.

"Maybe..." he lost. Again, "That's a good trick, eh? If nothing works, just blackmail emotionally... Let's go then," he sighed and started to walk towards the lake side. Misty just looked at him from the back. Smiling. But something got her mind.

"Wait! Are you gonna go there like this?" She pointed at his outfit. He was wearing a dark blue jacket-stlye upper with black jeans and army boots, and black fingerless gloves to complete the outfit

"What's wrong with this?" he made a child like face. Look told ya. He always does that. Act all childish.

"You're looking like...like...umm... I don't know but its not a formal outfit. And its not even pink!''

''Why it has to be _pink_?''

"Cause its the dress code," she informed.

"What?! I don't even have pink! So... I am not going?..."

"Nice try! But I have the solution. Just follow me," she told him handing the basket and headed to the temporary store room, which was provided by the management to keep all the stuff which can't be stored in rooms.

"Wh..what is the s..solution mist?" he asked nervously, cause he could smell the upcoming disaster.

"We have extra shirts. Of all sizes. Cause _I_ suggested that _some_ people might need them."

"Wow! That's greeeaaat!" He squeaked sarcastically, following her.

"We are here!" the red head chirped as her feet stopped right in front of the store room. Technically, it was a store _hall_. She entered the _hall_ after glancing at her best friend who still had the disgusted expression by the thought of wearing pink. The Kanto champion followed her, scanning the hall. It was stuffed with a lot of stuff. Most of them were baskets of gifts, bouquet of flowers, bundles of shirts in mint green, baby blue and _pink_. Lightest shade of pink. Some dresses maybe for bridesmaids and sweets. Sweets? Sweets! Cool! They were typically stuffed in gift baskets. It looked like store room of some Royals!

"These looks so amazing!" ash marveled looking at the sweets, who's back was facing Misty.

THUMP!

"Hey!" the black haired trainer complained as he felt something hit on his head, "What are ya doing mist?!" He said rubbing his head.

"Don't complain. You got hit by a packet of shirt, not with a rock or something," she continued, "Now remove that thing," he said pointing the upper he was wearing.

"A little too desperate, huh, Mist," he joked picking the packet of the shirt and opening, actually tearing it apart. He took the shirt out and unfolded it to get a proper view.

"Very funny!" she deadpanned, "Now shut up and wear it," he said while arranging the flowers in the bouquet which were totally messed, thanks to Ash.

"Kay!" he replied childishly. There were huge almirahs at one side if the room making an hideous place which was just two steps away from the two. He chose to change behind them.

He started to walk towards the _hideous_ place taking a quick glace around. "Have ya seen the wedding card mist?" he can't be silent for a single minute. Can he? "They haven't left a single color. Every color is used." He was a little frustrated too, may be because he should be training right now. may be that's why complains were coming out of his mouth so constantly. "And look at these dresses, what are these for? Using in discolights? Or used as LED bulbs?" She was just listening him. Simply. Snickering.

As he reached there, he placed the pink shirt on the table nearby, so he can remove the upper. He grabbed the zip of the upper and pulled it downwards as it reached bottom he separated the two side and removed the upper. Where, Misty, managed to take a glance on his mascular upper body while stranding the flowers. He didn't noticed this though, cause he was a little too busy to fight with the buttons of his _pink_ shirt. He somehow, managed to unbutton the shirt, but after wearing it it seemed impossible to button it again. Not that he was fat, but the buttons were really stubborn.

"Uhh...Misty... How does this works?" he asked sheepishly, still struggling with the buttons.

"Ash! Wear your pants!" She closed her eyes tightly, a deep blush covering her face. (A/N: did I forgot to mention when he removed pants? Yes? Then... Use your own imagination. Thank you. Back to the story.)

"Oh-oh, my shy lady!" The black headed trainer chuckled seeing Misty's response to his no-pants. He grabbed the pants, which were kept with the shirt only, and wore it hurriedly. "Done."

The red-head finally opened her eyes, "Better. Idiot. Now, lemme do this…" she said placing her hands on the buttons, trying to concentrate _just_ on buttons, nothing else, not even his best friend's bare, mascular chest. Nope. _Only_ buttons. She didn't dare to look up, cause she have to face his chocolate brown eyes so closely. His eyes made it harder for her. Firstly she was buttoning Ash Ketchum, Secondly they were standing really close...Aren't these reasons enough to distract her?

"Ya 'know?…" she started, "Those..multicolored cards..were designed by...me." His face darkened. Maybe he's going to get a mallet hit. Or even two.

"And those disco light dresses...were chosen by Dawn." she continued to speak. Not even looking at his face. Just the buttons.

"Uhh... Actually, umm...S..sorry'..." he tried.

" _So_ much complaining Ash... You know everyone worked _so_ hard for the wedding," she was telling him just like explaining math to a child.

"I can't help. I have a situation too... It's like my life has shifted from a thriller movie to a family drama!" Her hands stopped hearing this, while Ash lowered his eyes, finally sharing his feeling.

"Whaddya mean?" she finally, _finally_ looked in His eyes.

"Its like, when I was there... I was dying to meet every one...I was afraid of regrets...I was dying to come here, but when I am finally here...its...like..." he paused to take a deep breath, then continued, "Its like.." Misty waited him to continue, she knew Ash had something, which was bothering him. _Badly_. "Like...I should be back there. Back to my training. Back to Kalos Elite four... It's like I want to be here b..but _need_ to be there. I even get thought that if I don't enjoyed this wedding or things go not the way I expected them to be the it'll be a waste of time."

"I know...but believe me... You'll definitely enjoy the wedding. Just be you. Be in the moment.", her hands started their work again. She didn't know what he meant by 'there' and from where _Kalos Elite Four_ came but she definitely understood what he wanted to say. How he felt. She didn't forced him for explanations, she decided to give him some time. His mind and heart works at it's own pace, if he wants to tell her something then he'll tell her.

"Done!" She finally announced completing the task.

"Thanks, Mist!" he smiled thankfully at his best friend. But not for buttoning his shirt. Definitely not.

"Now, tuck it in your pants."

"Misty...can ya help me with this too," He asked mischievously.

"Shut up."

"Ash? Misty? What are you guys doing here?" came a new voice. Both turned their heads to the entrance.

"LEAF!"

* * *

 **Surpriseeee! Leaf's here. Yeah! Know what does that means? More secrects of the past can be revealed! And maybe some new shipping too! I know this chapter was not an actual progress to the story but, hey! I love some light fluff! Please review, cause it makes me HAPPY!**

 **-IndianKnight**


	4. Old wounds

**I've got the motivation to write this chapter by... The one and only... One of the Best... IceCreamAndPizza... Oh God.. She's an amazing author** ** _and_** **person, I felt so supported, all thanks to her.**

 **Disclaimer:- I don't own Pokémon.**

 **Note:- leaf's age is same as Gary. And this chapter have a little hurt/comfort. Plus sorry that the chapter is short.**

* * *

The S60 Cross Country stopped right in front of Romanesque Villa, was conveying an imposing, muscular presence that echoed its capable nature. Integrated tailpipes reflected its sporty dark side, while the roomy, leather interior with ergonomic sport seats, spoke of pure luxury But there was something that influenced Gary's brain even more than that car.

He had just returned to the resort from the nearby market after shopping for some last minute items : His favourite hair gel. He was just entering the palace when he saw that S60 Cross Country stop where his car was parked some moments ago. When the driver stepped out of the car, he felt the blasting of neurons in his brain.

 _Holy mew!_

A woman with fair skin, long brown hair and brown eyes stepped out of the car. She was not a common woman. At least not to him. She ordered the bell boy to deliver her luggage to her room and turned toward the entrance, but noticed the Pokémon researcher standing with a blank look on his face.

"Hey Gary!" she called his name.

"Hello, Miss Matilda!" he replied some moments later, pretending that he didn't even see her.

"Same, old Chuck!" she returned the favour. Her giggling voice filled the air with joy.

He also chuckled in his own style, with tucked hands in pockets.

"Call me by my _gorgeous_ name." This special ability of his to show off to anyone, yes, anyone, was even better than a Hollywood actress.

"Well...you started it. First call me by my name."

"Your name? That's boring."

"Shut up,Chuck!"

"Stop. Let's make a deal. You call me by my name and I'll call you by yours."

"Deal!" She giggled. "Gary"

"Leaf," he grinned back. "So you're invited too, huh?"

"Yeah! May and I grew pretty close lately!" she said, flicking some strands of hair.

Gary just smirked at her reply.

Anything wrong?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." He flicked his hair too.

"Lets go inside then," she chirped, taking a step forward. He followed her. She was the only female, perhaps, who could make him follow. Others usually followed him blindly. Except some of his friends.

They kept walking to the rooms, until the brunette remembered something, and suddenly stopped walking to turn around in disbelief.

"Shit! How can I forget this?!" Her shouting almost bursted his ear drums.

"Forget what?" he asked,his face void of any emotion.

"Gifts!"

"Gifts?"

"Yeah! Gifts!" she repeated. "I bought gifts for them! And probably left them in the car!"

"What car? Wait! That S60 Cross Country?. Integrated tailpipes with roomy, leather interior, and ergonomic sport seats-"

"YES! That's the one! ! Now stop your rubbish!"

He pointed his index finger back at her. . "You're rubbish!"

"Forget it! ! Let's find that car!"

"Excuse me Mam"

"You wanna joke now?!"

"That wasn't me." She turned her head to see who had just spoke. There he was, a waiter with a heap of bags struggling to see and even stand.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! _Thank you!"_

"Shut up Leaf! He might be cursing you! Just take that crap and move your butt"

She took the bags from him and thanked him a few more times, calling the bellboy again before heading to the room. But the gifts were too heavy. Not even the luggage cart could tolerate dragging them more than ten feet . That waiter sure was a legend.

"So, where should we cram these?"

"Uhh... These can only be stuffed in that big-already-stuffed room."

"Fine. Let's head there", she said with a little huff.

They kept walking as they crossed the middle lawns with useless fountains and statues with almost no clothes. Then after crossing the long, gallery they finally made it to the store room. They gave the bellboy their glorious company in the trip, as Leaf was too worried about the gifts to leave them with the bellboy.

When the three, actually four, if you'll count the gifts as fourth person, so when four of them were centimeters away from the door, they heard some muttering.

"…Now, tuck... in your pants...", the familiar voice muttered. Leaf leaned closer to the door to hear better.

"...Misty...can... help me with this too?"

 _Wait are they...?,_ she wondered as she pushed open the door and walked in.

"...Shut up..."

"Ash? Misty? What are you guys doing here?" she asked in shock. It took her mind a few seconds to realize who was actually there.

"LEAF!"

"Oh my goodness! ASH! What are you... I mean how did yo...uhh _you're_ _here_!" Lost for words, she ran towards her cousin like a hooligan to jump on him, embracing him tightly.

"Leaf! It's awesome to see you!" he replied with excitement, returning the hug wholeheartedly, much to Gary's displeasure. For the first time in a while, he actually felt welcomed from a Pallet person. Though she was semi-pallet person.

They broke the hug to look at each other. He actually had some muscles, like serious training muscle. She whistled and punched his arm, "Bro, you've got dashing muscle you know." Leaf turned her glance to Gary for a good response but found the man completely ignoring them and checking god-knows-what in his phone. She sighed realising that this was going to be a war.

When she was done greeting her cousin, she finally looked toward the other person standing behind him.

"Oh god! Misty I'm so sorry! I was so lost with this idiot that I totally forgot 'bout you,'' she apologised with all the possible guilt she had.

"Oh, no Leaf, it's' totally okay. Besides, anyone would be happy to see their long time missing family." Misty smiled at the girl politely. She was already running late for the flower ceremony, so she she didn't mind much "Actually I'm running late for the flower ceremony. I think you guys should also hurry too, cause May will definitely kill you."

"Okay then, let's go!"Ash cheered exiting the room.

"When did he start to love ceremonies so much?" Leaf murmured suspiciously causing an increase in the flow of blood to Misty's cheeks. She chuckled nervously, shrugging in the most innocent way possible. Following Ash, she left the room with the bouquet of flowers.

When Ash was gone , Gary finally looked up from his phone. "We should also go."

"Yeah," she sighed. "Just lemme change into something pink."

"Ma'am, where should I put these?'', The bellboy finally asked, nearly at the edge of his patience.

"Oh crap! I'm so sorry for that!"

* * *

She sighed tiredly as she threw her body on the soft mattress. She was not even sure what was bothering her this much. After all, every thing had gone well. Well...almost everything. If you don't count that moment when Ash was about to come near May but Gary cut him off harshly. All she wanted was for the two of them to get along.

But the fact will still remained unchanged, no matter how much she hated it. Gary was behaving like a total jerk near Ash. Ash was trying to tolerate his behaviour as much as he could, but he also had low tolerance. God knows what'll happen next.

Maybe she should think about what went well instead of what went badly. Like how May looked damn gorgeous in her pink dress, which was floor length and had roses of different shades on the waist.  
And heck! They had caught Drew two to three times trying to peek at May before the wedding.

And the cupcakes... _Yum_! Especially that rainbow sprinkled one. She shifted in her bed still trying to focus only on cupcakes until she heard a knock. Idly she got up to answer the door. If some waiter with room service was there with the wrong address, then he was gonna be dead.

"Open up, Matt!"

"Heyyyy! How dare you call me Matt! Stupid waite- oh hey Ash!" She greeted him, shocked to see it was him.

"Were ya sleeping?"

"No. Just tired." She shrugged rubbing her cheek.

"Not even going to bother to invite me in?" he teased as he entered the room anyway.

"Let's have a seat," she sighed rubbing her eyes, as she sat behind him on her bed. "What now?"

"You're asking me?"

"Okay, then. Let's ask Professor Oak.''

"Not that. It's just that I wanted to meet you, like...err...to just chit chat."

How can she believe that this was the same Ash she knew since her childhood. The Ash she knew was full of energy, a little moody, spontaneous and frolic, ready to explore with his curious mind, and always in a happy go lucky mood. Even at the worst situations, he was the one making the deal easy. He is always the one who release the tention, his dazzling personality can crack jokes to keep everyone's spirit high, no matter how solemn the situation is.

This sudden change in his behaviour has cleared her doubts. Maybe she knew why was he so upset. This was surely related to the _accident_ incident.

"Aunt Delia's okay. She can even drive now, and she started her restaurant again," she said, knowing his intention. He lowered his eyes, guilt clearly visible in them.

"Does...does she...uhh talk about...me?" He asked hesitating, and shifted nervously on the soft mattress. Nervousness was making him disable to do any wise action. He just bit his lower lip and waited for her to reply.

"Yeah... She mentions you sometimes, but believe me Ash, she really misses you." Leaf replied. He was staring at the lamp so hard that it could've exploded if he had psychic powers, trying hard not to meet her eyes in every possible way, let alone say something. He felt a lump in his throat, which was quite painful. Leaf could clearly see the mixture of grief and repent in his eyes, which was totally rare in the boy.

She put her hand on his and squeezed a little, trying to comfort her cousin .

"Uhh... I should go to my room.'' He suddenly got up, so she followed him until he left the room, sadly watching him go.

When he was out of sight, he let his tears fall from the corner of his eyes, which were concealed in from a long time.

* * *

 **What's the accident incident? Will be revealed in next chapters. I love the relation between Ash and Leaf, they're the best cousins ever. Anyways, thanks a lot to every one who reviewed I hope you liked this chapter too. Just let me know.**


	5. Forced reunion

**Disclaimer- I don't own Pokémon or the song in the chapter.**

 **A/N:- this chapter is not exactly a happy or light one, so please don't kill me because this scene was basically the turning point for the relationship between certain characters. And sorry for the late update.**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

 _-Wise men say only fools rush in..._

 _But I can't help falling in love with you..._ -

She closed her eyes exhaling a deep breath, and hugging her knees tighter. Her chin was resting on the top of her knees, and brown hairs were dancing with the old song track, which was playing for testing the new setup of speakers. The song was so loud that she could hear it from the top of the building. The shallow pool, in which she dipped her legs after releasing them from her grip, had a special power to attract people who were in search of some answers. The same shallow pool which attracted every confused soul.

 _-Shall I stay?..._

 _Would it be a sin._..-

The bride-to-be hummed with the song, enjoying the winter noon. The cold wind touched her face, leaving a soothing effect on her.

"The more you think, the more you'll confuse yourself."

"Hey Brock...," she greeted, swirling her feet absentmindedly in the cold water, "have a seat."

"Sure," he smiled at his friend.

 _If I can't help falling in love with you?-_

"It's a beautiful song isn't it?" she asked, yanking her feet from the pool and hugging them again.

"Yeah, it is. But this song can't bother you, can it?"

She smiled at the sixth sense of her older friend, "No... It can't."

"So, should I call your mom?"

"Why?" She looked at him from the corner of her eyes.

- _Like a river flows surely to the sea_ -

"For the mother-daughter talk, that one which a girl has with her mother, or sister or any other experienced female to confide in before her wedding because she's nervous that she and her partner are not ready for the wedding?... It's so common in movies...Why are you laughing?"

"You watch those movies?" she said giggling.

"That's not the point."

"No Brock, that's not happening. I am totally sure that Drew and I will make it, and that we will grow old together."

"Then why are you looking so uneasy?"

"I don't know, but it's the same feeling I had before my first Grand Festival."

 _-Darling so it goes_

 _Something's...Are meant to be..._ -

"So you're totally sure that you love Drew, and...umm.."

"And?..."

"And you... don't like..err...Ash anymore?"

She burst into laughter at hearing his last words. It seemed she was laughing at herself, "Oh my God! Brock! That was a long time ago, it was a stupid crush!" She said punching his arm and laughing.

"It's so funny when you think about what I'm told, almost every girl that travelled with Ash had a crush on him." She giggled, "He's such a numbskull, but you know, as soon as I became his close friend, I realized that he is one of my bestest friends, and tagging him with 'crush' will ruin it. I mean, when I became his good friend, my feelings actually disappeared."

- _Take my hand, take my whole life too..._

 _For I can't help falling in love with you...-_

"It had to, because it's all written," he said dramatically.

"Yeah! That's why I met Drew," the brunette agreed.

 _For I can't help falling in love with you_

* * *

"Give it some time, everything will be fine."

Misty's words repeated themselves in his mind.

"Thirty six hours is enough time, but the situation is not progressing a bit," Ash murmured under his breath, before sitting on the soft mattress, dribbling some drops of coffee on his t-shirt. He grabbed the T.V. remote from the side table,switched on the TV, and his final league match appeared on the screen.

"What a miracle! That's my final match...recorded? Who was watching it's recorded version? I have fans everywhere," he smirked at the thought.

As usual, Gary entered the room, and first thing he did was glare at Ash, before sitting on the opposite end of the bed.

Ash wanted to see his reaction on the match displayed on the TV. The remote between he and Ash. He grabbed it instantly and switched the channel to 'Pokémon Planet'.

"Why did you change the channel? That was my match." Ash said with hopes in eyes.

"Sorry. Didn't know that." he said, unaffected and rudely.

"Switch it back." He pleaded.

"It's your match. Aren't you tired of watching it? How many times did you watch it anyways?"

"I want _you_ to watch it!"

"I'm not interested. By the way, I don't want to see your face on T.V. too, I already had enough of it."

Ash stood up placing his coffee mug on the side table, and politely turned the TV off from the main switch.

"What's your problem, boy?" Gary raised his voice.

"What is _your_ problem?"

"You _know_ what my problem is."

"I wanna hear it from _you_!"

"Drop the act, Ashy boy!"

"Come on, Gary! We're friends! More like brothers! Don't break your promise!"

"Some _friends_ we are? This is the first time in three years you've come to see us! You've called what, ten? Okay _twenty_ times." He stood up while saying and walked towards the mini fridge to take a chilled coke bottle. "And asking what _my_ problem is…!"

"It's not as if _you_ contacted me everyday. Did you ever call me?"

"I tried-a lot! But I was just wasting my time! I got sick of listening your answering machine!" He said in a high pitched voice. Opening the coke. "You forgot us Ash."

"Try to understand, man! I was so caught up! Understand my situation! I was confused! New people, new places, new cities. It was so complicated! I was struggling! I had to make my life! I had problems! I had...I had _dreams_!" Ash's eyes started to fill.

"Your life! Your struggles, your problems, your dreams! Your _excuses_!" he shouted, "everything is about you! What about me, Ash?!" His eyes filled too, with tears, with pain. "How much do you even know about me?! My life?! My dreams? My… _circumstances_!" He shouted as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Gary, man, _chill_! Look at Leaf, she and I didn't talk either, but she's not so sore with me!"

"Because she didn't expect anything from you!" He said with a painful snicker, "She thought that you wouldn't even come to May's wedding. And who can blame her, when you didn't even come when Mrs Ketchum was almost _dead_!" he blurted, suddenly feeling that he said something he should not have said.

Ash's brain went numb, and his face blank at the dreadful memory.

"So that's what you think of me..." He mumbled under his breath. "Listen. Leaf's right. Don't expect anything from me… this is how I am..." he started to move towards the door.

"How!?" but Gary decided to stretch it. "Selfish? Shameless? A snob? Halfway around the world, you've lost your _mind_!" Gary shouted. Ash remained silent for some seconds, perhaps the lump in his throat was making not letting him to speak.

"At least I'm not like _you_!" Ash shouted. "Lost! Drunkard! A... failure..." He said, in a low pitched, shaky voice. Even though Ash's words were less hurtful, Gary couldn't ignore the feeling they gave him.

SLAP!

Gary's slap made the moment neutral for a second. Both of them were shocked that what happened right now. Gary regretted his move, but unfortunately couldn't take it back.

Ash, was looking directly in Gary's eyes, trying to believe what happened right now. After realizing the reality, he lost his remaining patience, retaliated. Gary couldn't tolerate a slap from the person he hated, so he grabbed a lamp from the table nearby in a fit of rage. At the very next moment, a lamp was flying towards Ash.

Smash!

The lamp hit the wall, only after Ash barely managed to dodge it.

"Are you _insane_? You wanna kill me?! That's hotel's property! May will have to pay for it! Idiot! Show your manhood, you loser!" He scanned the whole room, before rushing towards the bed and grabbing two pillows.

"Here… use this pillow." He handed one of the pillows to Gary, who was so mad that he snatched the pillow and started the war again.

Some moments later the room was filled with white feathers, which had previously been stuffed in the pillows. A a stunned Leaf stood nearby in a red dress. Her eyes were filled with tears. She knew there was tension between the two of them, but she never even imagined that their rivalry could reach to this level.

"Wh-what are you guys d-doing?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"He started it!" they blurted at the same time.

"I don't care who started it!" She screamed. "Don't you two even feel a little amount of guilt? It's May's wedding, she is expecting it to be perfect, and you guys are not going to destroy it. Just look at this. You were fighting like dogs!" The shocked girl roared as loud as she could, the feeling she had right now could be compared to the feeling of those people who evidenced 'World War-I'

"Leaf-"

"Shut up," she interrupted Ash, who was trying to control the situation. Gary, on the other hand, was just standing grumpily. "Now stop this drama! both of you. And apologize to each other right now!" She said calming down a bit.

"Sorry?"

"To each other!" She hissed frustrated by their behaviour. Now she just wanted peace between them at least until the wedding.

"Sorry..." Ash apologized, looking at Gary's face. He had to, as he wanted to attend the rest of the wedding peacefully, and there be chances of them to get along. Who knew.

"It's okay."

The raven haired trainer waited for him to apologize but got nothing. "This jerk is not apologizing!"

"Gary!" she hissed.

"Fine! Sorry Red," he sighed.

"Good," Leaf smiled at them with teary eyes, "Now, Red, Chuck, hug each other."

"Eww! Girls apologize this way!"

"Gary!"

"Fine!"

The Pokemon researcher stepped forward to face his no more rival, then wrapped his arms hesitantly around his shoulders, Ash returned the hug. Leaf smiled at them. She wiped her soggy eyes. "Wait a minute...my turn!" She cheered while sobbing. And ran towards them, jumped on them and joined the hug.

* * *

 **A forced reunion, all thanks to leaf. Anyways, thanks for reading and please don't forget to review ;P**

 **-IndianKnight**


	6. Groom's plan

**Hey everyone! First of all, extremely sorry for the late update, but the last couple of weeks were extremely hectic for me, and I almost thought that I won't be able to update this month too. But, thanks to God, I did it. And please forgive me for the short chapter. I hope you like it.**

 **Disclaimer: don't own Pokémon.**

 **-IndianKnight**

* * *

Warm.

The hug felt warm. All the love, all the affection, all the…regrets, were making it warmer. The friendship they had, the friendship they have, the memories, the attachment. Everything was colliding at the same time, making the hug warmer and warmer every second. This felt right. Even though his mind was numb, his heart was beating fast. This person was his first enemy, rival, friend and most of all… brother.

Neither of them spoke a word, they were lost in their own worlds, but they came back to reality when Leaf joined the hug. Their eyes opened, a feeling of hesitation came, but the warm feeling was much more dominant over hesitation. The trio remained in the same position till they heard a knock on the door.

They broke the hug, turned their heads towards the slightly opened door. A boy in his late teens stood with a confused look. "You guys not coming to the party?"

"Hey Max!" Leaf greeted. "Of course we're coming I was just waiting for these Dumbos," she said. She did not want to talk about the big fight and forced reunion. At least not right now, "C'mon guys, I'm going with Max. I hope that you'll be ready in…" She checked time in her wristwatch, "Fifteen minutes."

"Well I wanted to style my hair differently, but… fine!" Gary said dramatically, while Ash just stood there dumbly, recovering from the overloaded of joy he had just experienced.

Leaf left the room with Max, leaving the boys alone.

"Don't think this erases anything you did," Gary said still looking at the door.

Ash nodded dumbly.

"But maybe I can forgive you."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen! Good evening! I hope that you're enjoying the evening. I'll try my best to make this event memorable! I, Dawn Berlitz, will be DJing this event and I'll be your companion till Dawn!" The blunette announced with her typical enthusiasm. She was given the opportunity to DJ the event, even though it was totally unwanted, but an unwanted DJ was better than an angry Dawn, wasn't it?

They were in the nightclub for May's bachelor party. It was like any other nightclub, with dim lights, and numerous colorful beams of light illuminating the whole area, some disco lights at random corners,and the typical disco ball. Dawn was standing beside the DJ, some steps above the floor. The crowd cheered after Dawn, whilst sipping on their drinks and dancing on the floor. May, however, was a different case.

"You know what? I'm getting married to Drew."

"Tell me something I don't know. Let's go dance!" Misty insisted. She was sitting beside May, at the round shaped table, reluctantly sipping on the drink that had May ordered for the both of them.

"But, I'm not-"

"Sure that you should marry him? It's okay. Let's go dance!" The redhead interrupted.

"Shut up. I'm not-"

"Willing to drink this stupid drink? Then let's leave it. Can we go to the floor?"

"Misty!"

"Sorry."

"I was saying that, I'm getting married to Drew, but I'm not even allowed to see him till marriage," She finally completed her sentence. That was right. She was totally excited about her wedding, until her parents, along with Drew's dad, decided to follow the stupid tradition. According to which, the Bride and groom are not allowed to see each other before the wedding. And being the dumbo she was, she had agreed for it.

"C'mon, it's a tradition. You said you wanna marry Drew according to every family tradition and ritual That's why I say, think before you act," Misty smirked at her friend. "By the way, this ritual is pretty good."

"And how's that?" She asked, piqued by her friend's amusement towards her annoyance.

"It increases the anxiety," she said, winking at the bride while May splurted her drink and broke into laughter, joined by Misty.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Are you enjoying the evening?!" Dawn cheered loudly, and the crowd responded with a loud roar.

"Sometimes I think her mother drank a can of Red Bull before she was born," a new voice joined them, loud enough to hear, even with the loud music.

"I almost thought you weren't gonna come, Leafy. Now I finally got someone to dance with. "

"I was busy….Anyways, why's she shouting? You gave her sugar?"

"Nope, she's just excited," Misty said giggling at Dawn's enthusiasm.

"Hey May!" Another new voice whispered near May's ear.

May turned her head to answer but came face to face with that last person she was expecting to be there. The sight left a bewildered look on her face.

"It's me, Max."

"Really? I thought that you were an Ursaring dressed like my brother, idiot!" May said sarcastically. "How'd you get in here?" She hissed.

"C'mon let me enjoy this too."

"First of all, you are not allowed in my bachelor party, and how'd you get in here? I mean how did you get passed the bouncers?" she asked raising a brow.

Max smiled evilly and signaled towards his artificial mustache, everyone sweatdropped.

"Looks like the bouncers are pretty easy to fool," Leaf said with a chuckle, finally taking a seat next to May.

"Yup. Plus I had to talk like I'm May's elder brother," he laughed. "And don't think I'm here for free. I have a gift for you."

"Puh-lease. Last time you gave me a gift, I had to go to doctor."

"Nuh-uh. You don't have to go to the Doctor this time," he said smirking, "But someone else might.."

"Well last time you tried to introduce me to someone, we had to clean the whole backyard," she said recalling.

"Are all your surprises this destructive?" Leaf asked with a sweatdrop. Max just chuckled rubbing the back of his head.

"She's not appreciating you, idiot, just tell me already!" May shrilled in annoyance.

"He-asked-you-to-meet-him-at-the-lake-side," the boy said in a single breath.

This got everyone's attention. They were staring at him suspiciously, he was smiling proudly for what he was going to say.

"He? Who Max?" Misty finally spoke.

He just stood there smiling. "Drew."

"What?" Everyone asked in unison, but each of them had a different expression. May's face lit up, Misty's features had a shocked expression, Leaf's excitement level reached to the top, while the waiter who was serving them had an impressed look. Wait what? Waiter?

"Excuse me?" May asked the waiter who just smiled at her, when she saw his face her eyes nearly popped out. She dropped the glass from her loose grip as her hands were not longer working, neither her face, which was void of any expression humanly possible.

"Yes ma'am? May I help you?" Everyone in the table looked at the waiter in shock while May just wanted to hug him tightly. It was Drew.

"Oh. My. Goodness! Drew!" She shrieked and stood up to hug him, but Drew and Max immediately sealed her mouth by covering it with their palms.

"Shush, May! Don't shout! It's almost illegal for you two to meet before wedding, so please shut your mouth," Max whispered and pushed her back to her seat.

"Oh okay. But Drew how did you got this uniform? When did you plan this?"

"Doesn't matter. You wanna come or not?" he asked.

"Go sis! I'm done with my gift," Max said with a wink. May was still in shock, but came back to reality when Misty shook her.

"Are you going or not?" the redhead asked her.

"Uhh… what if my parents catch us?" May asked sounding reasonable.

"We'll handle them, just go!" Leaf squealed, "this is so exciting!"

"You coming?" Drew asked. May, without saying a word, stood up with a smile, and took a step to head back to exit gate.

"Waiter, come here," She ordered him with a grin, and they both exited the club.

The group watched them until they totally disappeared. Max who was standing the whole time, sat between the two girls on the chair left empty by May.

"So ladies, how was my plan?" He asked in a typical gentleman's tone.

"Max you nailed it! I never knew that there could be some excitement in May's traditional wedding," Leaf giggled waving her hand.

"And I never knew that you, out of so many people, will arrange their secret date," Misty added.

"What secret?" Another unexpected voice came over the noise of their conversation

"Did we missed something?" Another voice joined men in formal outfits appeared.

"Nothing much. Just everything," Misty said and the three of them, the only people who witnessed the bride's escape, broke into laugh. men just stood there with confused looks.

"Sometimes I'm convinced everyone is hiding something," Ash said to no one in particular and took a seat beside Misty. Gary smirked at this.

"Well Ashy boy, there was a seat near Leaf too but, that's okay," He said snickering and taking seat himself, leaving no chair for any other human. Ash looked at him dumbfounded but blushed when he realised what he meant. Misty who was busy talking to Max didn't notice. But Leaf noticed. Not just the blush on Ash's face but also Gary's teasing to Ash. Maybe things are getting better between them.


	7. Still at the club

**Disclaimer: IndianKnight doesn't own Pokémon.**

* * *

"You two! I thought you would be fighting somewhere in this club.." Out of the blue, Brock joined the group, but with an unfamiliar woman who had linked her arms with Brock's. She was looking beautiful enough to be tagged as a supermodel, wearing a black leather mini skirt, a silver backless crop top and bondage boots to complete the outfit. She wore her brown hair down with blonde highlights at the tip of every strand, her blue eyes were decorated with heavy eye makeup, and her puffy lips were painted with vibrant shades of red.

"Where were you the whole time?" Leaf asked Brock, but managed to look at the woman with suspicious eyes, as if she was indicating him to introduce 'this girl' to the group.

"I was just spending some quality time with the one and only, Colette," Brock said dramatically, trying to impress the lady.

"Yeah. So Brock," Colette began with a dramatic giggle, "it was really nice to spend time with you. Now, I'll be glad if you introduce me to your friend," she said as she curled a strand of her highlighted hair.

"What friend?" he asked confused by the question.

"You forgot so easily," she said rolling her eyes. "You told me, no? That you are friends with Ash Ketchum?"

'This girl', Leaf thought arrogantly, 'Brock was just bait for this girl to reach Ash, and why shouldn't she, he had rapidly became famous among women after becoming the Kanto champion. He was all over magazines, people begged for a photograph with him, and his fans even made a fanclub. But the most annoying result of his achievement are these fangirls. They are obsessed with him so much that one of them even waited for him the whole night outside his house so she could be the first person he met in the morning, I mean, who does that? He is just Ash. It sounded crazy, but those fangirls would do anything to get attention from Ash and the media. And Colette seemed just like one of those stupid fangirls who thought Ash would fall for her in their seducing outfits.' while lost in her thoughts Leaf's eyes met Misty's and she realized that the redhead was in her panic mode, so she started to send Misty secret messages, ' _Another fan girl's here, Red, and she looks serious about getting Ash. You wanna stop her?'_. It's kind of a supernatural power of girls, they can talk to each other just with eyes.

Misty blushed and turned her head away, signaling- ' _I don't care!'_

"Yeah, so Ash," Brock called his beloved friend's name. Ash was trying to avoid eye contact with Colette as soon as he realized that she was just another fangirl. Brock looked at him as he said, "meet Colette, a beautiful woman and a gorgeous model."

Ash and Gary both looked at the woman dumbly, while the girls just rolled their eyes. Gary elbowed Ash in order to make him greet Colette.

Ash stood up and walked past the couple.

"Oh my goodness! It's so nice to meet you Ash!" She squealed, releasing Brock's hand, who gave her a confused look. The lady had been so nice to him until now, and suddenly she acted like he was a complete stranger.

"Uh... it's nice to see you too miss…" Ash replied awkwardly. He stretched his hand to greet her, but she held his hand and pulled him in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry Ashy, but I can't help, I always wanted to meet you in person!"

"Th... that's f...fine," he said awkwardly. It was the first time a fan girl had hugged him. Gary was snickering in the background, soon joined by Leaf. Misty, however, had a disgusted look on her face and Max, was trying to control his laughter over Misty's reaction. And Brock, was standing there dumbly, still trying to understand how his girlfriend, well almost girlfriend, had tricked him to reach Ash.

"Anyways," she said breaking the hug, "will you dance with me? It must be an honour to you."

"What?!" Brock almost screamed.

"A d.. dance?" Ash asked. Truth to be told, he always freaked out when it came to dancing. Any kind of dancing, especially with any girl except his _close_ friends like Misty, Leaf, May or Dawn.

"Yes! A dance! Please don't refuse. Please! Will you?" She pressured him innocently.

"Uh…" he scratched his head and looked towards Gary and Leaf, who, in response shrugged with evil smiles plastered on their innocent faces. "But I am a terrible dancer…" he tried for the last time.

"I'll teach you! So, you coming?" She clapped her hands.

"Okay," he sighed. Getting the approval, she grabbed Ash's wrist and dragged him to the already crowded floor. It wasn't his first time dancing with a girl. In fact, he had some experience before and none of them were any less awful.

"Here we go!" Colette exclaimed. Even after dragging Ash to the dance floor, her energy was same. Ash stood there dumbly, scanning the floor awkwardly and checking if anyone was watching them. The only people watching were his friends who were sitting barely seven steps away at their table. He quickly turned his face away to hide his blush.

 _Okay Ash, you can do this, all you have to do this is dance. You've done this before. But those were traditional dances. Everyone had the next move fixed. Here, people show their creativity in their moves. I can copy some moves. Yeah. Let's see what I can do. Anything but standing dumbly, I might be looking like an idiot.'_ he thought.

"Shake your toned body, Ashy!" She said, swirling her waist, just like a leaf swirling with the wind, her moves matching with the song perfectly.

Ash started to move awkwardly. Even with the loudspeakers, he could hear snickers of his friends from the table behind. Slowly his body got comfortable with his dancing and, surprisingly enough, he was _not_ looking like an idiot. He was doing a good job actually.

* * *

….meanwhile on the table where the group was sitting….

"Just look at him. This is definitely one of his most embarrassing moments," Max said snickering while fixing his artificial moustache in its position.

"The girl is really crazy," Leaf said and Gary burst into a loud laugh. "What?"

"He..He.. oh man!" Gary said in a fit if giggles. "They are looking li..Like Emma Watson is dancing with..With Mr. Bean!"

Max, Leaf and Misty burst into laughter. "How can you guys laugh at this situation?" Brock asked,piqued with the situation. First of all his date was dancing with his best friend, secondly, his best friend was dancing with his date, and thirdly, his friends were laughing at them. How could anyone laugh at this?

* * *

"Okay, so you lied to your friends?" May asked with a giggle, "just to meet me?"

"Nope. Don't get that idea. I never lie. I just told them that I needed some fresh air and I'm going to the lake side."

"How come it's not a lie, mister truthful? You technically are on the bride's side of resort, you are sneaking around the place, you are trying to avoid any of your family members, you were dragging me with you, and right now we are hiding in this stupid store room. My mom's attic is better than this you know?" She said with a smug smile.

"Technically I just broke my promise, and who said we're gonna hide here forever? We _are_ going to the lake side." He said, sliding his hand around her waist as he pulled her closer. "I have a surprise for you." He kissed her gently.

She smiled and returned the kiss.

"Now, shall we move?" He asked holding her hand.

"I'm dying to get outta here," she giggled.

* * *

"Okay, is it just me or she is actually getting closer to Ash, way more closer than needed?" Brock panicked.

It had been more than fifteen minutes since Ash and Colette started dancing. At the beginning, they danced like any other couple in the nightclub. But as the time passed, Colette's moves became way more seductive. She twisted her waist more, she played with her hat while dancing, and slowly she kept her hands on Ash's chest while dancing. Even though Ash was getting uncomfortable with her moves he was not protesting, thanks to Delia's manners.

"What's wrong with that? Ash must enjoy it, if I were in his place, I would've enjoyed it, and maybe flirted back," Gary said snickering.

"Such a pervert," Leaf muttered, "I also wanna dance! Hey Misty you wanted to dance right? Let's rock at the floor!" she cheered.

"I don't feel like dancing, Leaf," she replied under her breath.

"Says the girl who was dying to dance a few minutes back," Gary teased.

"Shut up Gary. Why don't you just shut your mouth if you don't wanna mess your hair?"

"So you noticed my hair? I always knew I am a Ladies' man!" Gary laughed.

"So you grownups just sit at the table and sulk over your crush dancing with anyone else, in a party?" Max interrupted.

"He is not my crush!" Misty screamed stamping her drink on the table. "But, I won't tolerate if a random girl makes him feel uncomfortable!" she stood up. Everyone on the table and some people around the table, stared at her with wide eyes.

She stormed towards Ash and Colette with fists clenched tightly. It took her half of time than others to reach the floor. She pushed everyone aside who came in her way.

"Wow! Now this is gonna be fun," Gary said with a whistle.

Misty reached the dance floor, and walked towards the couple decently. Ash's face lit up when he noticed the redhead.

"Excuse me miss," she tapped Colette's back.

"Uh...yes?" The fangirl turned.

"Sorry to break your your pleasure, but can I have my _best_ friend back?"

"Sorry? Can't you see we were _enjoying_?"

"It's good to enjoy, but, enjoying with someone else's date is a little inappropriate, don't you think?" Misty said smirking. With her confidence, Colette believed her lie.

"He's _your_ date?" She said pointing at Misty.

"Do you have a problem miss?" The redhead asked politely.

"No," Colette frowned, and turned to face Ash, "so...it seems a goodbye Ashy, right? Anyways, here, take my number, you can call me whenever you miss me, see you later," she said handing him her business card, and gave quick peck on his cheek. "Goodbye."

With this she left the floor. The two best friends watched her till she disappeared. Misty's smug smile twitched a bit before she burst into a hysterical laugh. Ash watched her in confusion but soon joined in.

"Oh Arceus! She's so stupid!" she said between giggles.

"I almost thought that I will be spending the rest of the night with that girl" Ash said relieved, "thanks Mist. I really needed you, I owe you another thing," he said smiling.

"Don't thank me. I'll somehow make you return all these favours someday," she said punching his arm slightly, "now let's go, the freaks, we call our friends, are staring at us, I don't wanna give them another reason to tease me. I already gave them one by making myself your fake date."

"Well... let's convert your lie to a truth," he smiled. She stared at him with wide eyes.

"Huh?"

"Don't you wanna dance miss perfect?"

* * *

 **A little too cheesy? After so much tears the story needed it (Smirks). Thanks alot for reading, please review!**


	8. When we dance

**A/N:- Am I updating quite late? Yes. Should I be ashamed of myself? Oh yes! But. Was this month extremely hectic for me? Damn yes! So... Am I sorry for being late? Maybe... Absolutely!**

 **Anyways...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

The last time she danced with Ash Ketchum was seven years ago on her birthday, when the entire universe forced him to dance even though he kept talking about how bad a dancer he was. There were other times too when they had shared a dance, but none of them were as magical as this dance. None of them had dim lights, none of them had a careful Ash. This Ash was afraid to step on her feet. This Ash didn't want to hurt her.

" _Don't you wanna dance miss perfect?"_

 _She blinked. "Dance?"_

 _Ash giggled. "I'm not that bad of a dancer, at least I won't step on your feet. This time!"_

" _Don't make me take it back. Let's give you a try, Ballerina!" She laughed._

Last time she danced with him she had wished for these situations, but it seemed God had finally granted her wish seven years later.

Now, she wanted to stab the DJ for suddenly playing romantic mashup of Ed Sheeran with slow beats. She wanted to punch herself for agreeing to dance with him. She wanted to avoid his eyes which convinced her that this was a good idea.

It seemed that the entire universe wanted to shove him into her heart again. Every particle was working to push him closer. It seemed that fate decided to mess with her head; that the whole purpose of this wedding was to make her love this wiggling man again.

She did not want to dance with him like a pair of love struck swan. She did not want to hold his broad shoulders like this. She did not want him to grab on her waist. She did not want to look into his eyes. She did not want to smell him again. Yet, her heart was adoring the situation. Her brain seemed to stop working. How had her heart suddenly become the dominating decision maker?

Was she mad at herself? Definitely yes. For hugging him when he returned. For sitting next to him on that shallow pool. For pretending she was okay. For everything.

She didn't want that heartache again. The same one the young Misty had when she realized she was nowhere near her sisters. When she had to run away. When she felt alone. When she had a crush on him. When he let her leave with that repaired bike. She felt alone. Again.

The shattering of her heart whenever she declares to herself that she's over him, all he does is smile. That smile. That damn smile. It proves her wrong every time. Everytime she sees that stupid smile, it refreshes her feelings. Her emotions. But the next thing she knows, he's gone. Gone for yet another adventure, left all alone again. Heartbroken.

That one time when she realized that they, Ash and her, will be the most impossible couple. Their paths are different, his life is an adventure, he loves it and he moves on. He loves his dream much more than she could ever love him. It's time to move on. It's time to let him go. Seven years ago after her last birthday spent with him, he left for another adventure. He never turned back, neither did she wait. Yes, they met twice after that, but those were group reunion events, so her heart never got time to love him again. She was happy that she was over him.

But then, it happened.

May's wedding. That hug. That flirt in the pool. Helping with his shirt. Dancing with him. And all this happened, without her realizing that the seed of his love buried in her heart had sprouted again. She needs to stop herself before it grows any bigger, or else, it would be chopped off & crushed like all the saplings before, leaving pain & just more pain.

Her heart knew the result for loving Ash Ketchum. It knew that… in the end it would tear her apart again. The most preplexin thing was her heart enjoyed it, without caring about the end. It was enjoying this.

"Mist…?" She heard a voice. It was Ash.

"Huh?" She opened her eyes. A few people were staring at her, she could hear Leaf cooing from somewhere, and Ash, he was smiling at her. First with confusion but later with warmth. Oh no. She hadn't done it. For God's sake she had not done it. _Dear Arceus!_

"The song was over a few minutes ago," he said, a little awkwardly.

"It w...was? I...uh... didn't noticed, maybe zoned out a bit…" she said sheepishly, and mentally hit her head for dancing like a moron without any music, with so many people staring.

 _Oh no! I'm an idiot! How?! How can I get so absorbed in the dance that I didn't seem to notice the track was over?! I was practically dancing like a desperate woman! Idiot!_

"So you enjoyed it?" He asked, or more like teased.

Blood rushed across her cheek bones, he was smiling at her, his hands still on her waist, her hands still on his shoulders, she quickly yanked them. His eyes still on her, sparkling like he just won his beloved title of Pokémon Master, like he was glancing at the rarest element of Earth, like he was watching legendaries, the shine in his eyes was brighter than the Disco lights. She kept staring at him.

While the DJ started another track, this time not so romantic. _Great_.

Misty continued to stare at him with wide eyes, when he realized his hands were still on her waist. He winced. A slight blush covering his freckled face.

"Wanna dance again?" he asked hopefully, trying not to sound awkward. For the first time in his life, he wanted to dance. Dance like he doesn't care about anyone. He wanted to dance with _her_ , again.

"Too loud. I'll just get some fresh air…" she made an excuse while looking over her shoulder, too nervous to make contact with his eyes, or anyone for that matter.

His smile dropped. She didn't seem to notice though, too busy with avoiding all the teasing glares. Leaf and Max were dancing a few steps away, where Leaf was looking from the corner of her eyes. Misty avoided them, avoided everyone, and rushed to the exit.

"Did you kiss?" Someone nudged Ash. It was Gary.

"Shut up!" He pushed Gary's face away, which was near his ear.

* * *

"Okay...I _just_ started to like this idea." May mumbled. "And _this_ happened out of nowhere. I mean, my bachelorette party was so fun."

Aside from the night club's event, the bride and groom were still trying to succeed in their mission of secret date.

" _Shhh_ …they'll hear us…"

"C'mon! He's your _friend_! So what, if he finds out that you want to spend some time with me?! I'm your fiance! It's not a _crime_! Besides," May sighed, "we're not allowed to meet, but he may understand how much _anxious_ you were."

His eyebrows raised. "What? _Anxious_? Miss Maple, I want you to have the best time of your life before you become _Mrs Hayden_." He said goofily.

"And you thought sneaking around the resort would help? What do you want me to feel like anyways? An infiltrator?"

He facepalmed. "Even Max would've understood by now. I'm taking you to a special place where we can have some quality time. But to get there we will have to pass this human filled area."

May raised her brows, then rounded her lips sounding 'ooo'

They were hiding behind a big statue of a greek lady, the space between the statue and the wall just narrow enough that Drew was facing the statue's back, his back glued to the wall and May facing Drew while her back was facing the statue. She was almost standing on his feet as the place lacked the space needed. Technically May was relying on Drew for standing, making the couple extremely close to each other.

He smirked at her reaction.

"And Paul is not my friend. He's my father's second cousin's son. But being extremely close, my father insisted to invite him. I couldn't say no to my father." He explained.

Paul was on his phone and seemed to cut the call anytime soon.

"Of course you can't," she tried to suppress her giggle. "If you could meet before the wedding, we wouldn't need to be sneaking around."

"He's going." Drew whispered, his eyes keenly observing the area. "Let's go before anyone else shows up."

He locked his fingers around May's, while she followed his lead.

They tiptoed across the lawn and reached the gallery. This was the last obstacle before they reached their destination.

The gallery was empty, bachelors were in the night club, non-bachelors were off to the beach for karaoke night, organised by May's parents. So the path was clear. "By the way… why can't we go there separately?" May asked while she tip-toed across the area, behind Drew, as if she was a spy. "Then we wouldn't have any problems."

"C'mon Maybelline." He used her actual name and turned to face her. "Going separately means I have to tell you the location, then it won't be a surprise! And it's fun sneaking around with ya!" He winked and continued walking.

She blushed. " _Right_ , Mr. Smarty Pants."

* * *

"I'm an _idiot!_ " Misty grumbled from her spot on the edge of a fountain, She removed her heels and was barefoot on the soft, trimmed grass.

She wanted to run away, but then everyone would try to find her. And she was damn sure that Ash, being the hero, would lead them, find her, save her and she'd look like an idiot., which according to her she was, and fall for him even more. Does she have a choice? Staying here was the best option.

"Where is Brock when I need him? Or May? Please, for the sake of this pure, confused red head soul, send some help!" She groaned dramatically. "I am an _idiot_!"

"Me too.." someone sighed. Okay, someone was behind her probably watching her have this stupid conversation with herself. _Great_.

"Huh?" She turned to find someone sitting on the opposite edge of the same fountain. She couldn't see his face but he seemed a tall, tan skinned blond. He had a muscular body, was wearing black T-shirt and a sleeveless navy blue jacket, and had camera on his side. "Do I know you?" she asked.

"Sorry if I scared you," he smiled, "or overheard you."

She smiled back, "It's alright."

They sat there in silence, like two lost souls having a deep conversation. The silence was really comfortable. The man broke the silence, "Why is life so hard, oh beautiful stranger?."

"Because we can't control ourselves, our brains, thoughts, and this big _mouth_ ," she tsked.

She could hear him snicker sadly over the splashing sound of fountain water.

"Nicely precise. You just explained my original problem _exactly_."

"Really? So I'm not the only one then?"

"I might be worse than you!" He laughed.

"Not a chance!"

Silence. Her mind wandered to the thought that he might be the angel she was wishing for?

They both started to chuckle at the same time. He turned his head, for the first time, and stared at her back for a few seconds, then turned back with a smile. "Can I come to your side?"

She rolled her eyes, "Sure!"

She could hear his footsteps getting closer and closer, and in a few seconds, a tall, handsome, young man, stood right in front of her, with a goofy smile.

 _He smiles like Ash._

"Hey, I'm Ian Blaise. Miss Maple contacted my studio, the studio I work at, to shoot the wedding." He stretched out a hand for her, she received it gracefully and stood up from her spot, with heels in her free hand.

"Hello Mr Blaise! I am Misty Williams-"

"Gym leader of Cerulean city?!" He stared wide eyed.

She giggled with a slight blush. Gym leaders didn't get this sudden recognition very often.

"Gym leader of Cerulean city." She repeated. "Sounds like you love Pokémon?"

"Oh I sure do! I love brave ladies with water Pokémon." He winked. _Was he flirting?_

She didn't reply, instead began to walk while he followed her slow stroll.

"Why are you an idiot?" She asked.

He snickered, "Maybe because I'm talking to a stranger?"

"I'm speechless."

"I got into an argument with Jared, incharge of our team, and he insisted that I needed a break. I'm an intern, and the studio I'm working in was my dream, so, I messed up." He shrugged.

She pursed her lips.

"It's okay… just give it some time, everything is going to be fine."

 _Damn! How can I be a two timer? Seriously? I am an idiot! He's a stranger!_ She shouted in her mind.

 _Misty Blaise or Misty Ketchum? Argh! An idiot! I'm an idiotic two timer despo! Elsa was always right. You can't marry a man you just met!_

"Thanks." He said.

The couple continued walking. Yet the red head liked his company, she wanted to be left alone for some time. Some alone time always clears up a confused mind.

"See you later then!" she tried, slightly holding up her breeth, wishing him to be as oblivious as Ash.

"Kay then!"

He definitely was.

* * *

May couldn't blink her eyes. Oh no, she couldn't, or she'll waste those milli seconds she can utilize to marvel at the sight.

She was gratified. Yes she was. Her slightly parted lips were unable to pronounce anything anymore, her heart was flipping wildly as if trying to get out of the rib cage, her lungs were filled with all the love present in the air, she felt she was about to burst with joy. Blush spreading across her cheeks, neck, and collar bone.

She exhaled strongly. That's all she could do right now. Her whole body getting warmer and warmer every second.

"May I?" He offered his hand, a naughty spark in his eyes. Not surprised by her reaction as if he was expecting this.

"Uh…y..yeah..! S...sur..e..!" She stammered. Feeling like the twelve year old May, helpless, flattered and crazy for him.

She delicately handed him her hand, he kissed it gently, and they both ambled towards the table, which was right beside the lake, the ground near the table was covered with light pink rose petals. Centre of the table had a beautiful candle, a bottle of wine and fancy glasses. Beside wine, a chocolate box was left open inviting the desired couple.

It was a full moon winter night, though beach was barely a kilometer away, wind was chilly yet warm not becaus all those candles surrounding the table kept on fancy stands but due to heat rising through the couple's faces.

Reflection of moon on surface of lake was adding a bonus.

Drew pulled a chair out for her, and gestured her to have the seat. She took it with a flattered smile. Flattered with his gentleness, flattered with his smile.

Speechlessness of May was quite understood, but lack of words from Drew was something new. It was all those bubbles of joy in his stomach letting him from speaking or maybe jitters. He was quite disappointed in himself, having jitters a day before his wedding? He is much confident then that.

The night is going to be the best memory of couple's life. When love is in the air. When the three magic words will make the night even magical.

* * *

 **Please review and let me know your opinions on the chapter and, of course, on Ian Blaise. He's cute right?**

 **;)**

 **-IndianKnight**


	9. Getting over it

**It has been six months since I last updated. Wow. But I couldn't do better with a writers block.**

 **Anyways! I finally completed this chapter, though it doesn't give a lot of progress to the plot, some people may call it a filler, but it was a really emotional chapter for me. I don't know how much I can thank** _ **Ash Jason**_ **and** _ **IceCreamAndPizza**_ **for helping me with the chapter! They're the best!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _I'm a mess, I'm a loser, I'm a hater, I'm a user. I'm a mess for your love, it ain't new. I'm obsessed, I'm embarrassed, I don't trust no one around us, I'm a mess for your love, it ain't new._

The song was playing in her head since last night. After saying goodbye to Ian Blaise, she went straight to that shallow pool on the top of the building. This time alone. No one to mess with her thoughts, no one to disturb her solitude.

But, after spending some time by herself, she realized she needed some company. Too nervous to return to the nightclub, she decided to head to bed. She rushed to her room as fast as she could, but being the hopeless dreamer she was, failed to fall asleep. She tried to listen to some music hoping it would change her mind, but ended up listening to the song she had been humming all night.

 _I'm a mess, I'm a loser, I'm a hater, I'm a user. I'm a mess for your love, it ain't new. I'm obsessed, I'm embarrassed, I don't trust no one around us, I'm a mess for your love, it ain't new._

It was four in the morning, the sky was still dark, and at this point, it was too late for her to sleep, but too early for socializing.

So here she was, walking along the beach, with the sun peeking out of the horizon, bringing the golden dawn with it. The soft waves that crashed on the sandy beach and the early chirping pidgeys gave her the company she longed for.

Her bare feet were covered with sand and salt water, and it tickled everytime a new wave touched. Her smooth, brushed hair was now all frizzy & messed up and her black, glittery crop top was wrinkled. Her denim skirt had been swapped out for pajama shorts and her ankle wrapped heels were nowhere to be found, instead the furry slippers she was supposedly wearing were now lying in the sand, left to bite the dust.

Small dark circles formed under her eyes. _I look like a feebas._

 _I'm a mess, I'm a loser…_ Lyrics of the song looped in her head. She tried to shift her mind towards the beauty of the beach.

 _The wedding ceremony won't start until six in the evening, but May will be busy with the stylists for almost all day for her bridal makeover. Kenny will be here today, so Dawn will be spending time with him. Leaf, Gary and Brock will be busy having fun. What should I do?_

This place had so much to offer. Aside from fine white sandy beaches, Porta Vista was also home to serene backwaters, bustling villages and ancient sea forts. Travelers could enjoy the quiet life or take advantage of water activities like scuba diving, parasailing and snorkeling on the beach. And how could she forget about the local market?

She nodded to herself. _I can explore the local market. Or visit the ancient fort? But I will have to get done with it before four in the evening. After all, I will need some time to get ready for the ceremony_. She chewed her lower lip, exhaling a soft breath. _C'mon Misty. Stop acting like a heartbroken lover! It's no big deal, it's not even an actual heartbreak. As if you haven't broken anyone's heart before waiting for a certain someone. You deserve this. Now, cool your mind and move your butt! There's so much to do today!_.

The sun was now out in the open, ready to conquer the sky. She checked the time on her pokegear, it was almost seven.

" _Time to head back._ "

After dusting the sand off, she put her slippers back on, put on a fake smile and walked back to the resort.

* * *

By the time Misty reached the resort everyone was up, even the bedheads like May or Gary were up and fresh. It seemed that all the wildness from last night hadn't sucked up anyone's energy, an unusual occurrence. Everyone was sitting on the lawn, enjoying the free yoga sessions arranged by May's parents.

She wanted to hide. She wanted to turn invisible. She wanted to teleport as far away from everyone as she can. No! They can't see her like this, she is looking like a cavewoman! But luck... well, it hasn't been on her side lately.

"Misty!" Someone called her name. May jogged towards her and gave her a tight hug. Exactly what she needed.

"Morning May," she smiled as practiced. With fake enthusiasm which almost looked natural, Misty replied, "Tell me everything!"

"Dreamy, should I call it, or a royal romance? I'm flattered, that's for sure!" she sighed dreamily, continuing to speak in poetic way. "He was looking at me like I was a legendary, and he held my hand as if will never let me go!" Her eyes sparkled.

"That was so cheesy, girl. But that sounds so romantic! I'm so happy for you!" She wanted to tell May about her night, but not now, at least not until the wedding was over.

May giggled and opened her mouth but her mind lead her into different conclusions. Misty seemed weird, she was acting like she was happy, but the crazy spark in her eyes was missing. Something was definitely wrong. Then it clicked her mind. Ash. It was definitely something to do with him. No one could make her as miserable as he could, even when he didn't mean to. He was so blinded by his own obliviousness that he was unable to see the love of this beautiful redhead. And no matter how hard Misty tries, it was impossible for her to get over him. At one point, they were almost sure that she was over him, but one visit is all he needed to ruin everything.

May was tired of her friends' stupid oblivious dance around each other. They were going to either get together or never see each other again. That's what May wanted.

"What happened?" May asked.

Misty was aware of what her best friend had just ask, but tried to avoid the conversation, "Just a lot of dancing, some fatigue, and a bit of a headache," she explained, her smile weak.

"You are a terrible liar."

"You are too good to be my best friend."

"This does not change the fact that something happened last night. Did he reject you?" May asked, ready to comfort her friend.

Misty chuckled. "There's no way I'm ruining this happy, bubbly environment by sharing my stupid decisions!" May could tell she was trying hard to smile. _Such a stubborn woman_. _Can't she just accept that she's sad?_

May tried one more time. "Drop the act. Let it all out. You'll certainly feel better."

Misty couldn't hold back her emotions this time. She let out a deep sigh, closed her eyes and put her hand on her chest to feel her pounding heart. She remained like that for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes, they were soggy. Filled with tears, but at the same time filled with the dedication of trying to hold them back.

May's expression softened. She rubbed her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug, "Let's go to my room okay?" Misty just nodded, trying to control her tears.

May held Misty's hand all the way to her room, reminding Misty that she was supported, that May would always be there for her, no matter what, protecting her from everything that could hurt her friend.

As May expected, they encountered several people on their way.

"Morning guys! You wanna go for yoga with us?"

"Sorry Dawn, we need to meet the event manager, but we'll join you for breakfast!" May replied.

 _Click!_

"Hello ladies!"

"Sorry do I know you?" asked the bride to the weirdly handsome blond looking like some photographer.

Whoa Red! You look like crap!" Gary whistled.

"Have you seen mirror today, Oak?" Leaf argued back.

Pushing past them, May and Misty continued down the hallway. At last, when they reached May's room, May let go Misty's hand so she could lock the door. They settled on the soft bed. Silence filled the room.

"So," May started, "what exactly happened? Did you confess? Did he run away?"

"You think I can confess?" Misty asked in disbelief, letting out a sarcastic giggle, "I know it's not possible. He is an unstoppable adventurer, and his obliviousness only makes it more impossible. But my heart doesn't seem to understand that!" She felt a lump in her throat, eyes filling with tears. "Why is nothing normal in my life?!"

"Misty, you need to calm down. It's just till the wedding and then he'll be can take your time. Everything will settle down after a while, everything will go back to normal, that's all you can do.".

"I don't know May. Everytime he leaves, he leaves a scar along with good memories. Everytime that scar starts to heal again, the pain increases, my heart hurts, and it takes more time to heal it. I'm tired of this." She wiped a tear. "He's my best friend! But how can I not fall for him? Yes, I love to spend time with him! I still enjoy it, but I know the worst is yet to come like it always does!" She hugged her folded legs.

May looked pitifully at her. The heart played hard games. It was weird to see a strong woman weeping like a baby because of love.

"You know you don't really have much options, Mist. As I said, you have to wait until he's gone, and meanwhile, try to not flirt," May said half heartedly. She had been giving this same advice for years.

Misty was just as tired of hearing this advice. She threw herself on the mattress. "C'mon May! There must be some other way to deal with this. I'm tired of this _stupid_ 'wait till he's gone' thing! It's so annoying!"

"Then just go and confess! Why can't you just do that!" She let her word vomit out. "You know what's more stupid than my advice? It's your decision to not confess and then sulk over him being with another girl! I'm tired of this Misty!" May stood tall so she could properly face her friend. "It's so annoying! For God's sake, just go and tell him! What can go wrong? He'll reject you? He'll run away? Than let him! If he does that then he doesn't deserve you anyway! What's the point of not telling him now?!" May said breathlessly.

"You know what?" She continued, "Maybe it's your ego. You would rather live with an unconfessed heart, than a rejected one! You are just afraid of-" May's eyes widened. She stopped in the middle of the sentence when she realized what she just blurted out. She was actually screaming, and Misty, who was now sitting up with soggy eyes, was staring at her painfully all over her face. "Crap. Misty, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say all that..."

Misty sighed. "What else do you think May, let it all out…" she sighed,hugging her pillow tight. "At least one of us will live with a 'confessed heart'."

"I'm really sorry Mist. But I couldn't keep it to myself anymore… As you said, let it out now." The brunette let out a deep breath. "I know it's the stupidest thing to say, but I think he has a thing for you," May said biting her lower lip.

"What?" Misty blinked.

"Yes! You _should_ have hope! Please don't give up on him. He works at his own pace, you _know_ how slow he is,don't you?"

"For God's sake he's twenty three! And don't give me hope. It's worse than heartbreak," she huffed.

"I'm telling you what I saw. I've seen it in his eyes since I _met_ him. It was heartbreaking then because of my crush on him, but I'm glad he's been that way since then."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you that I had a big crush on Ash, didn't I?"

"Yes! Dawn had it too," Misty laughed sadly.

"Hers wasn't serious though," May smiled, "But there's a thing I never told you… I was...urmm…" She scratched her cheek hesitantly, "at a point… I was jealous of you…"

"Jealous of me?" Misty's eyes widened, "Oh my God! May, I'm so sorry! How did you handle it then? You were so young, and more importantly, alone!" Misty said, guilt embracing her heart. She understood what it must have felt like to experience young love towards a person who doesn't even show an interest in love, but she never thought about what she would do if the guy loved someone else?

"Remind you of the boy I'm getting married to?" the brunette winked.

"Drew? Oh yeah! Roses and all!" Misty said after a moment of realization, "So are you implying something?"

"Ultimately, I've given you two choices." May gave her friend a comforting pat. "Number one, wait and have hope. Number two, move on and find someone else. Choice is yours."

"If I could, I would have moved on earlier."

"Do you realize, you're still in the hope phase? That's why you can't move on?"

"I am not!" Misty pouted.

May giggled and booped her nose. "You can fool yourself, but not me. Indeed, I still ship you guys." May chuckled.

"May!" Misty complained,a red blush spreading across her neck.

"Brock too!" This time May laughed hard, but let out a breath when she caught up some air.

"But my point is," the bride continued, "I couldn't help but get jealous of you. He talked about you so much! He was so different around you, I always wondered what you had that I didn't. Why does he seek you out to cheer him up _before_ me? Why wasn't I his first choice? There must be a reason! Maybe it's because you were his first companion? Because he spent more time with you than me? So I was a little jealous of you! Okay, maybe _more_ than a little! But I was more irritated than jealous! Trying to figure out what you have that I don't. These reasons might be true but they were not the complete truth."

Misty was speechless. She waited for May to continue.

"And as time passed, I got my answers. He simply loved you, initially as a friend, then his feelings deepened as you two connected..Then boom! He was in love with you! Like the real love! When I was over him and started looking back, I realized that you two have something I always wished for, and from then on, I had this little hope that one day you two will realize it too. You know, love is not a competition where you choose to love the person who is better than the other. Neither is it something which needs a reason. It just happens. When you love a person, you love a lot of their qualities. But when you _fall in love,_ it just happens. You can't understand the feeling, and you can't calculate how much you are in love with the person. It's an infinite feeling which never ends, and you can't unlove the person once you start falling for them…"

Misty sighed trying to find the right words to respond. "I think you don't love Ash Ketchum, I think you are in love with him. So there's no point in moving on. You can simply stop hoping to get together and find someone else to spend life with, but you can't stop being in love with him. You guys have known each other for so long, you have grown together. And over the years, you have deeply connected with each other. You can't just unlove each other now. Ash must have realized it by now, or even if he hasn't, either way, both of you will accept the feelings differently. And I think eventually, he'll embrace your love too."

"Wow," is all could the gym leader could say . "That is too much for you. I can't believe you thought so deeply…"

May sweatdropped. "Why can't you believe…" she murmured.

"But don't you think I've waited too long? I wish he just understood everything sooner… I get what you were saying about being in love and all, but what if he never...realizes?" She asked.

"Then it's up to you. You can simply consider dating , find a good guy, and maybe marry him. You can love another guy. It's not hard, but you can still be in love...Not everyone gets to fall in love at their first chance.." May said.

Misty continued to stare att May. "Were you...In love with…?"

"No!" May shrieked, "No, no… I don't know...Maybe no… I think no…" May kept mumbling, fee a shiver down her spine.

Misty sighed. "May I'm so sorry!"

"Don't! I'm more than happy with Drew, and I know we have a long journey together! But right now, it's not about me, it's about you two. You should cherish whatever you have or it will be gone. Good things demands appreciation or they'll fade away."

"I get it…and I really appreciate your words. But I can't keep living like this in these conditions. Shit needs to change. I need to get stronger. And I'm going to start by giving up on the hope that one day we'll be together. I know I'll always be in love with him, but I can't take it any longer. Starting now, he's just my best friend. If I don't have hope for us,I won't get hurt.. And this conversation never happened."

May sighed. _I hope she gets what she's looking for._. _But it's up to her if she wants to continue having hope or not. I have no right to decide whether they should be together or not. But I wish they could…_

"Besides, Ash is so appealing to women, so he'll easily find another girl., ," Misty chuckled sadly. "So, what happened last night? You said it was magical, right?"

May sighed, "It was. We were sneaking out like five year olds pretending to be spies," she smiled."And you know, the setup was near the lake with candles and flowers!" May jumped with excitement, forgetting what happened a moment ago. "It was like a scene from the magazine photoshoots!"

Misty chuckled, "That was so extra!"

"My whole wedding is extra," May laughed. "Like it's a little too fancy, but Drew's parents insisted. This wedding feels like a festival to me!" She squeaked.

"And everyone is enjoying it too!" Misty said.

The two friends continued talking about the previous night,sharing each other's stories when someone knocked on the door.

"May? It's me,Brock!" A voice came from the other side of the door.

May looked at Misty with a questioning look, asking if she was okay with it. "It's just Brock. He's seen me sulk over carrots. Of course I'll be okay," Misty laughed. May smiled, glad that her best friend's mood was better now.

"Coming Brocko!" May answered. Before opening the door, she kissed Misty's head, then lightly patted her on the head.

"Good morning!" May cheered as she opened the door, "we were just talki-" she stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw another person standing next to him, "urm...hey Colette! You're Drew's cousin right? Aunt Emma's daughter?" May asked. Colette nodded with a smile. "Uhh... Good morning!" She continued awkwardly. She hadn't expected her to be here at this _fine_ morning. She heard from Leaf that Colette had joined the bride's side of the party.

"Good morning!" Colette replied winking.

"Morning May!" Brock cheered, "Colette wanted to meet you, so she asked me if I could take her to you. I can't possibly turn a lady down considering how much of a gentleman I am." He grinned proudly.

"Anyways, you guys can have girl talk, I'll be right back!" Brock said before turning away. He walked by the hallway and disappeared near the stairs leaving the three anxious women by themselves.

"Can I come in?" Colette asked, innocently fluttering her eyelashes.

"Sure…" May said as she stepped aside, so Colette could enter the room. May was _not_ sure if Misty could handle being around the model, but did she have any other options?

Misty watched the two lazily, even though she was surprised by her unexpected visit.

"Oh! Aren't you Ash's girlfriend? From last night?" Colette asked when she saw the redhead sitting on the corner of the bed.

May tried to suppress her chuckle.

As soon as she heard that name, bubbles started to explode in Misty's stomach while a slight blush covered her face. "Yeah we mm-et last night," she stuttered, but didn't protested being called Ash's girlfriend. She wanted to let Colette think that way, so she'd stay away from Ash.

"Yeah." Colette narrowed her eyes but maintained the smile. "Nice to see you again." Before Misty could respond, Colette turned to May saying , "well, let me just get to the point. I'm really sorry May. I really am. I crashed your party yesterday… even though the rules were very clear. Since it was the last single night for the bride and groom, an in-law invading your party must feel ridiculous... " she explained, tossing the locket she was wearing. "But I couldn't help it. I've always wanted to meet Ash Ketchum in person..."

 _More_ _like_ _seduce him_ , thought Misty.

"When I met Brock," she continued, "I was thrilled to hear that he knew Ash personally, but he had to take me to your side of party for that. I'm sorry I intruded without asking you." She lowered her eyes.

May smiled. "Collette, you don't need to apologize _that_ much. You're _Drew's_ cousin. His _family_. And his family is _my_ family too right? So it's okay. Besides, my brother invaded my party too," the bride chuckled, "It's not as big a deal as you think it is, don't worry!" May smiled charmingly as she sat on the bed. "Have a seat, Colette!"

"Wow!" She marveled. "You're so kind! Thanks! Drew's a lucky guy!" Colette winked again while taking a seat on the couch nearby, before turning to Misty. "And Misty…" she hesitated.

"Yes?" Misty asked politely. She could sense where the conversation was going.

"Umm… I want to apologize to you too…" Colette bit her lower lip. No matter how cringy a person she seemed last night, guilt and embarrassment were clearly visible in her eyes. But, apologizing for an embarrassing act was always tough. "I am a big fan of Ash Ketchum, and I just couldn't contain my excitement when I met him last night… I'm really sorry if I intruded your personal time, or ruined your date…" she finished with a shrug.

Misty blushed a little but it was almost not visible. May looked suspiciously towards the redhead.

 _Date, huh? Is my ship sailing?_ May smirked with a raised eyebrow. Misty pretended to not receive May's girl code.

"Ah, it's nothing…. I mean it's natural to get excited when you finally meet someone you _adore_ , only a few people can suppress their emotions. You couldn't, and it's not that big of a deal." The redhead shrugged mirroring Colette's actions, but with a smile.

"You don't have to apologize for being happy."

"That was smooth. Anyways, thanks a lot, you two! You guys saved my fun from being ruined for the rest of the wedding!" Colette giggled. "And, I think that's enough heart-to-heart conversations for today. I'll go find Brock, he's such a good friend!" Colette said.

Misty glimpsed at May who was already looking at her from the corner of her eyes. They knew how much of a great friend was Brock, but they also knew _why_ he was being such a good friend to Colette.

"Yeah," May smirked, "he's a great friend. His intentions are always positive, and he's a gentleman too!"

"And he never flirts with girls," Misty added. "He never acts clingy or creepy."

Both of them chuckled while Colette sat, still trying to figure out what was so funny.

May could feel that Misty's mood had lightened up, but it was just temporary. They needed a permanent solution for her trauma. At least they could enjoy this temporary happiness until it last.

Footsteps could be heard approaching their room within the giggles, and before they could notice the sound of the steps they heard a knock on the door.

"Hey girls!" They could hear Brock yell from the other side of the door. "I'm coming in!"

"Yes Brocko!" Misty chirped.

The door opened and Brock was standing there with Ash. May gulped.

 _Goodbye temporary happiness,_ she thought.

"Morning ladies!" Ash cheered with bright smile. He looked like he just had a relaxing bath, and a power up massage.

"Look who's up early," Misty teased..

 _She can put up a mask so quickly_ thought May.

Ash laughed as he walked into the room with Brock. "It's because I went to bed early."

"I thought you were up with the others for the party?" May asked. Moving aside, she made room for the boys to make themselves comfortable on the bed. Ash took a seat next to May, while Brock sat on the edge near Colette.

"After a dance, I felt like...uhh...sleeping?" He replied.

"Yeah, you left after Misty," Colette pointed out.

Ash blushed a little, while May looked at Misty who, for some reason, was staring out of the window. Brock smirked while Collete sat confused, still trying to figure out what was happening.

 _This is getting interesting,_ May thought.

* * *

 **(I wanna finish this fic as soon as possible now.)**

 **Please review!**

 _ **-IndianKnight**_


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